North With No Regret
by creeedence
Summary: High School AU - Castiel Novak wanted to keep his head down and simply survive his last year of high school. He never anticipated Dean Winchester would take a shine to him.
1. Chapter 1

_It goes without saying that I own nothing to do with Supernatural so I'm not going to tell you any different. _

* * *

Castiel slung his schoolbag over his shoulder and sighed as he slammed the car door shut behind him. His older brother, Gabriel came up behind him and threw an arm around his shoulder, giving him a tight squeeze.

"Come on, loser. I have a feeling this is going to be a good year" said the older boy as he released his little brother and playfully punched his arm.

Castiel frowned as he rubbed his offended arm. "You said that last year. Now you're back because you failed and had to retake it."

"Yeah but I have my little bro by my side this time." Gabriel poked Castiel's chest with his forefingers a few times before turning around to make his way out of the parking lot.

Castiel watched his older brother bounce joyfully through the crowd in front of him wondering how he can be so positive.

Castiel hated his school. He spent the entirety of his summer dreading the day he'd have to return for his final year.

He had always struggled through his academic life. It wasn't the schoolwork which was the problem, he had no issues with homework or exams or essays; it was the social side he feared. Castiel was never accustomed to engaging with his fellow students. His knowledge on pop culture was poor and his social skills were pretty much non-existent. He spent most of his free time alone in the library or in an empty classroom to avoid confrontations from his classmates. Gabriel always tried his best to ease Castiel's life by hanging around with him to give off the illusion he had some sort of a friend. But that was usually shattered when Gabriel's group of friends pulled the trickster away from his younger brother.

Castiel often resented his brother for finding school so easy. He was classed as being in the 'popular group' along with Jo Harvelle, Andy Gallagher, Lisa Braeden, Adam Milligan and Dean Winchester. Castiel often suspected that Gabriel failed on purpose because he loved his time at Lawrence High so much and because he was the only one in his group scheduled to graduate a year before everyone else due to being a year older, he couldn't stand being left out.

Castiel kept his eyes on the floor as he pushed his way through the rest of the student body, mentally preparing himself for the onslaught of insults and teasing which was sure to emerge during the day.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

"You've got everything? Books? Lunch?"

"Yes, Dean!" huffed Sam as his big brother accompanied him to the main gates.

"Just making sure, dude. Don't want your first day to be a fuck up"

"It wont"

Dean looked down at Sam and smiled. He was perhaps more excited for his little brother's first day than he was. Since Dean was unofficially the boys guardian he felt some sort of parental pride as he watched him hitch his backpack higher ready for his first day of high school. Their Father had died several years ago and their Mother passed when Sam was just a baby. The paperwork stated that their close family friend, Bobby Singer, was responsible for the kid but everyone knew it was Dean who felt the weight rested on his shoulders. He wanted to do it. He wanted to be the stable adult in Sam's life.

"Oi, Winchester!"

Dean looked up as he heard his name being shouted across the courtyard outside the school's main entrance. Gabriel Novak ran towards him and him a playful slap across the back of the head.

"Watch what you're doing, Novak. Do you want to play the 'who's bigger than who' game?" Dean laughed as he wrapped an arm around the shorter boys neck and slightly tightened his grip.

"Yeah and I'm older, Winchester, so fuck off!" Gabriel chocked under Dean's grip.

Dean released his friend and laughed. "Dude, this is my little brother, Sammy." Sam winced as Dean turned around and ruffled the brown mop of hair on his head.

"Hey, Sam! You remember my brother, don't' cha?" Gabriel blindly reached behind him and grabbed onto a handful of trench coat to pull Castiel next to him.

"Yeah, sure!" Dean offered a friendly smile and extended a hand to the younger Novak.

Castiel stared at the gesture with confusion before offering a nod of greetings to both the Winchester boys then turned around to head to his first class leaving Dean to shrug off the encounter.

Dean was always the nicest out of the popular group to Castiel but only in the sense that he didn't throw mindless insults at him everyday.

It was known that Castiel was the weird kid but over the years no one could really remembered why. Dean Winchester joined the school at the start of last year after transferring from Texas so never really understood the blind hatred towards him so never engaged in it. Castiel had in fact developed a sort of crush on him but refused for it to be anything stronger knowing full well nothing would ever come of it. Dean Winchester was undoubtedly the hottest guy at school and regularly had his pick of the equally hot girls who were infatuated with him. So Castiel kept out of the way and used his social invisibility to admire the Winchester boy from afar. That was actually the first time Dean had ever said anything to Castiel other than "where's the bathroom" at a drunken night round the Novak household with Gabriel.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

The school bell rang signifying the start of lunch and the corridors filled with students eager to find a place in the cafeteria. Dean pushed his way through the sea of pupils to get to his locker which he swung open and collected his things for his first class after lunch.

"You don't need those, Dean. You're an idiot so why even try?"

Dean closed the door to his locker to find a tall blonde girl in a brown suede jacket leaning against the wall next to him.

"Bela. How unpleasant to see you as always." smirked Dean.

"Why don't you just give in and admit your feelings for me so we can go to your car and make out on the backseat?"

"Ever the romantic" Dean turned around and started off down the hall to try and find Sam who he had promised he'd collect for lunch.

"We all know romance isn't your area, Dean. Would you like me to list all the girls you've screwed and then hung out to dry?" said Bela.

Dean quickened his pace. "Okay I'll give you that but how do you expect us to hook up when I'm trying not to gag the entire time?"

"Oo, Dean. I didn't know you were into kinky stuff. I don't personally own any gags but we could always go for handcuffs?" winked Bela.

Dean turned around to face her but continued walking, now backwards. "Don't make me run away from you because I will." He bumped into any student that was unlucky enough to not be paying attention as he quickly placed on foot behind the other, blindly walking down the corridor getting further and further away from Bela.

"Give it time, Dean Winchester. One day you wont be able to resist!" shouted Bela who was now

"And I'll be in Hell by then!" Dean shouted back. He laughed to himself and turned around, bumping into Sam as he did so. "Hey! There you are!"

"Who were you shouting at?" asked Sam.

"Bela Talbot. She's been dying to get into my pants for two years." smiled Dean innocently.

Sam frowned in disgust as he walked past his big brother and headed for the cafeteria.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

Despite Gabriel's best efforts, Castiel made his way down the hall towards a classroom he knew would be vacant so he could eat his lunch in peace. Many people took pity on him for this but the truth be told, he preferred it. He always found himself uneasy in the presence of lots of people and was much more comfortable in his own company. On the very rare occasion that he became fed up of being alone he would risk the cafeteria and sit silently at the table in the back corner with Chuck Shurley and Kevin Tran who, like Castiel, were labeled as 'losers'. However, unlike Castiel, they were completely invisible to everyone else at the school.

Everyone knew who Castiel was. It was either as 'Gabriel Novak's nerdy little brother' or as the queer of the year. Castiel had never strutted around the school rubbing his sexuality in other people's faces but seeing as it was one of the main factors that distinguished him from everyone else it was the easiest to pick on and insult him for. He never officially came out to everyone about his preferences but once the bullies got bored of 'loser', 'nerd' and 'dick' they turn to words like 'faggot' which when they noticed had a bigger effect on him than the rest they jumped to conclusions that he was in fact a 'fag', 'queer', 'homo' or any other offensive synonym they could come up with. It just so happened their conclusions were right.

One of Castiel's many talents was not letting everyone get to him and he was determined for this new school year to be a good year for him.

Once he finally reached his destination, Castiel entered the empty classroom and threw his bag on the nearest table where he sat down and gently placed his forehead against the desk. He closed his eyes for a second and reveled in the fact that the first half of the first day of the new year hadn't been too bad. The only thing to happen to him that could be classed as bullying was Alistair spent the majority of the second class today throwing various items at the back of Castiel's head. And that he could deal with. And the first item on his list of 'good things to happen' (a very short list, granted) was the fact that Dean Winchester had spoken to him and had even offered Castiel a handshake - a recognised sign of friendship - even though Castiel panicked and turned it down.

He wasn't living in some fantasy land; Castiel knew that Dean saying two words to him and offering a handshake just to be polite didn't mean the guy wanted to jump his bones but he felt obliged to treasure any nice gesture anyone gave him at school. And the fact that it happened less than ten minutes into his first day of his senior year felt like a sign that the rest of the year might pick up.

"Listen up, little bro. Whatever you do, don't tell Michael." The entrance of a recognised voice made Castiel turn his head so his cheek now rested on the desk in front of him.

"What have you done, Gabriel?" he asked with a flat expression. It wasn't a rare occurrence for Gabriel to ask Castiel something like that.

"Well I felt it my responsibility to throw an 'Opening Year' party at ours to celebrate-"

"- the start of the new school year?" Castiel interrupted.

Gabriel grinned. "Exactly! Now, Michael is out this evening for the entire evening leaving me, you, Lucifer, Anna and Balthazar in the house which is two things; the first being a very bad idea and the second being the perfect people the throw a party and destroy the evidence before Michael returns tomorrow morning." Gabriel raised his arms in the air as if to celebrate his fabulous plan.

"And you really think Uncle Balthazar is going to allow you to do this?" sighed Castiel.

"It was his idea" shrugged Gabriel.

"I don't want any part in this." Castiel turned his head back to its original place with his forehead against the cold wooden surface meaning he couldn't see his older brother.

"I didn't think you would. Which is why I've invited Dean Winchester knowing how much you want to get into that boys pants and why all I've asked of you is to not tell our oldest, scariest brother."

"He's only scary when you get in trouble and you what!? I do not want to get into Dean Winchester's pants!" Castiel sat up now and glared at his brother.

"Hmm. That's a lie. Anyway, I gotta go but you swear you wont blab?"

Castiel shrugged. "I'll be in my room the entire time acting like I didn't even know it happened."

"That's why I love ya, Cassie!" Gabriel sung as he turned on his heels and exited the room.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

Castiel sighed as he put his headphones in and turned the volume up as loud as it would go. He was laying on his bed with his laptop resting on his chest, the screen showing an episode of _Doctor Who_.

Gabriel's party was in full swing now and the ridiculously loud music could be heard through the floorboards. It seemed as if the entire senior year turned up and Castiel didn't make an effort to check if Dean Winchester had as well. Not that he cared or anything. Everyone had a crush on Dean Winchester, it was no big deal. Except that every time Castiel closed his eyes he saw Dean Winchester so no matter how much he tried to tell himself otherwise, it really _was_ quite a big deal.

The images on the screen in front of him was failing to keep his attention especially when the thought of Dean was making his trousers feel tighter.

He frowned as he moved his laptop off his chest to see the now not so obvious tent in his pants. He ran his hands down his stomach and under the waistband of his pajamas.

He relaxed as he wrapped his hand around himself and slowly began stroking. He closed his eyes so he could see invented images of him and Dean together, in his room, where it wasn't Castiel's own hand working at himself, it was Dean's. It was Dean's hand that tightened it's grip and quickened it's pace. He imagined the Winchester boy lying over him with his mouth attached to Castiel's ear, nipping at his lobe with his teeth, breathing in sharply as he yearned for friction against his own cock and grinding against the other boys thigh to get some sort of release. His hand working faster and faster as he did so.

He imagined Dean kissing down his chest, occasionally brushing his tongue against his skin to taste him making him shiver. He pictured what it would be like to have Dean hover over his crotch, inches from his painfully hard erection, exhaling hot breath as he swallowed him down, his lips taught.

Castiel's free hand flew out next to him to grab onto the bed sheet as he arched his back, bucking his hips onto his hand fiercely. His mouth fell open and images of Dean biting onto his neck, chest, collarbone, flooded his mind.

It took one final squeeze and one final guilty thought of Dean screaming his name for Castiel to finish, causing hot liquid to spill into his hand.

He was left breathless and hot on his bed. A loud thump from downstairs brought him back to the present and he groaned as he remembered the absurd amount of people in his house.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

Dean waited patiently in line for the bathroom in the hallway. He looked around as he waited and smiled. The Novak family damn well knew how to throw a party. He'd been to many in the two years since he'd been at Lawrence High and nothing ever compared to the ones Gabriel and his brothers threw.

"Fancy seeing you here, hot stuff." Dean recognised the voice instantly and shuddered as he turned to face Bela who was invading his personal space. "How about going somewhere a little bit quieter?"

Dean put on one of his obviously fake smiles. "I'd rather sell my soul".

"Oh come on. It makes sense doesn't it? Me; the head cheerleader, you; the hottest guy at school. It's wrong if we don't." Bela leant against the wall, her arm raised above her head with her elbow bent, trying her best to pull off being seductive. If it was anyone else but Bela, Dean would be jumping her right now.

"Sorry but I think I'll have to decline. Here's a tip though: stop trying so damn hard." Giving up his place in the line for the bathroom, Dean walked away with Bela hot on his heels. Maybe he should break into a run this time...

"Dean this is getting ridiculous. Just give in." God she sounded so needy. Maybe it was because she hadn't got any in so long. Maybe no guy in his right mind would want her. She's hot, yes, but right from the word go you could tell how clingy and bitchy she was.

Dean's train of thought was broken when he heard an irritatingly chirpy ringtone break out behind him. He turned around to see Bela moaning as she answered the call. Dean took this moment to leg it. His face a mixture of pure panic and relief as he ran through the house and bumped into Gabriel.

"Hey, man. Great party. Listen. I'm hiding from Bela before she catches my scent again. I need somewhere to hide." He stood restlessly in front of Gabriel, one hand on the shorter man's shoulder.

"Awh are you two at that game again? I don't know why you don't just bang her to shut her up. She's a hot piece of-"

"- Gabe. Just until she gets bored and leaves."

"Fine. But you are a let down to all man kind." He smirked as he thought of somewhere to run to. "Upstairs, last bedroom on the left. It's empty. You don't even need to knock."

"Thanks, man!" shouted Dean as he headed for the stairs leaving Gabriel feeling pleased with himself. His little brother will kill him for it at some point soon but right now all he had to worry about was Pamela who was waiting for him in the kitchen.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

Castiel had finished cleaning himself off. He sat on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands feeling miserable. He'd just had a wank thinking about one of the most popular guys in school who he'd never have a chance with even if the guy wasn't straight and it was now one in the morning and he couldn't sleep because of Gabriel's stupid party.

He debated going down there but immediately dismissed the idea when he remembered who would be there. The fact that they were in his house wouldn't stop Gordon Walker and Alistair from picking on Castiel and -if they could get away with it- giving him a homophobic beating. The same way they ended last year.

The sound of Castiel's bedroom door being swung open and then promptly being shut made jump and swing round to see who the hell it was.

Dean turned around and pressed his back to the door. "Oh. Oh, hey, man. Castiel? Sorry. Gabriel said this was cool. Does this door lock by any chance?"

Castiel stood up, his eyes wide open and his body in shock. Why was Dean bursting into his room and asking if the door locked? What did Gabriel say it was okay to do?

"D'ya mind not staring and telling me if this door locks? Also, if Bela Talbot tries to come in, I'm going to hide and you're going to tell her you haven't seen me, yeah?"

"Err..." was all Castiel could muster. He really wished he was wearing more then a flimsy pair of pajama shorts and an old t-shirt.

"Fuck it, I'll figure it out myself." Dean turned his attention to the door handle looking for some kind of key or lock before Castiel nervously came up behind him and pointed to the top corner where a gold latch was situated without saying a word. Dean grinned and twisted it up, locking the door.

Once he was satisfied Bela wasn't going to find him he turned his attention to the boy who's room he just ambushed. "How come you aren't downstairs at the party?"

"Erm... it's not really... my scene" frowned Castiel, still confused as to what Dean Winchester was doing in his bedroom. "Why are you here?"

Dean raised his eyebrows and realised he probably should explain. "Ah. Bela Talbot. She wants to have sex with me so naturally I'm hiding."

Tipping his head to the side, Castiel asked "Why hide?"

"I don't actually know anymore. It's kind of a game between us now I think." Dean looked around the room and walked over to sit at the office chair by the desk in the corner. Castiel's room was neat and tidy. The walls were bare except for the odd _Star Wars_ poster and every surface held a large pile of books, most of them for school. Castiel was stood in the middle of the room wearing tatty sleepwear looking incredibly uncomfortable. "So... Gabriel's little brother."

Castiel sighed. That might as well be his name.

They sat in an awkward silence for a while. Castiel finally sitting down on the edge of his bed and Dean still sat there making popping noises with his mouth.

"You go to our school. I never see you around." Dean thought he should break the silence.

"I don't really take to hanging around the crowds."

"How come?" Dean raised an eyebrow in question.

"Everyone knows why." Castiel was becoming slightly suspicious at Dean's ignorance.

"I don't."

"Dean. Surely you've noticed my... popularity amongst your group of friends."

"I don't know what you mean, man." Dean leant forwards on his chair, resting his elbows on his knees.

"Oh, come on! Gordon and Alistair! You've seen them around me! You've heard what they call me, you've seen the punches they've thrown at me, the bruises they've given me! Everyone has!" At this point, Castiel was getting aggravated. He rarely spoke about his bullies or let anyone know the effect they had on him. He thought it best if people thought he didn't care.

"Cas... I'm really sorry. I don't hang around with them. I hardly speak to them." Dean frowned. "They really do that to you?"

Fear crept over his body and Castiel sunk into himself and shook his head. "No. Not anymore. I... Please leave, Dean. I don't think Bela's going to bother you anymore tonight. Please just leave." Again Castiel was pushing people away. One of the contributing factors towards his little amount of friends was that Castiel didn't have the knowledge on how to make new ones. And when it seemed someone was reaching out, he pushed them away out of habit. No one had ever tried hard enough to break him down.

"Cas, I-"

A loud, and obviously drunken knock on the door broke Dean's train of thought. Both boys looked at each other as Castiel went to carefully open the door while Dean prepared to hide incase it was Bela.

"Cassie!" Balthazar was leaning up against the doorframe for a second before pushing past his nephew and stumbling into the room. "How you doin' mate? You alright? Yeah?" He had his hand on Castiel's shoulder who was ready to facepalm at any moment. Balthazar turned to see Dean stood across from him. "Hey. Hey, I'm Balthazar. I'm Cassie's loving uncle." He extended a shaky hand to the Winchester boy.

"Hi, Balthazar. We've met before. I'm Dean Winchester. Gabriel's friend." Out of politeness he took the man's hand who stared back at him with intent.

"Dean... Dean... Yes! Gabe invited you! Yes. You're the one who Cassie's in love with?" He turned to his nephew who was frozen on the spot and ready to either punch his uncle or vomit.

"I'm sorry?" grinned Dean. He raised his eyebrows as he stared back at Castiel who was now as white as a ghost.

Once Castiel managed to unfreeze his eyes, the rest of his body followed. His brain, however, still couldn't manage speech quite yet. "I.. err... I'm not in... Balthazar's very drunk. He doesn't know... err... what he's saying. Just assume everything he says is a lie. I think you should both leave now. What with school in the morning. I... it's best if you err... forget everything. Again, it's all a lie. Please leave." He pushed both men out of his bedroom. Balthazar looking incredibly confused in his drunken state and Dean unable to wipe the shit-eating grin off his face.

Once his bedroom door was closed and he was safe, Castiel sunk to the floor and laid there for what felt like forever.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

Castiel's first class of the day was gym and as per usual, once he finished changing (ten minutes after the rest of the boys had left the changing rooms) he sat himself on the bleachers with school work from another class, occasionally looking up to see the rest of his classmates participating in the lesson. It became an unspoken agreement between him and Coach Turner that it was fine for Castiel to spend all his gym classes this way.

Castiel hadn't spoken to Dean about last night. He didn't plan to. His plan was to stay as far away from the Winchester boy as possible and avoid any sort of confrontation. He'd never been more embarrassed in his life and he had a lot of moments to compete with.

Twenty minutes into the class, Castiel heard Coach Turner calling his name from the other side of the track. He shook his head as a response but it made the coach shout louder. Castiel sighed as he put down his books and climbed down the bleachers to the running track. Every now and then, to keep up appearances, the coach would call on Castiel to actually partake in the lesson especially when he knew Principle Zachariah was on the lurk.

As he made his way slowly to the rest of the class, Castiel saw Dean Winchester watching him.

Dean wasn't planning on talking to Castiel about his uncle's meddling the night before but after he spoke to Gabriel about it and found out that the revelation wasn't completely untrue (exaggerated, yes, but not untrue) he thought it might be a good idea. Not that Dean was offended by it or anything, he thought it would be best for Castiel's sake. He didn't want the kid thinking he was repulsed by him.

Dean watched as Cas sheepishly made his way towards everyone else. He had his hands in his shorts pockets and he was staring at the floor.

"Come on, Novak. The Principle's doing his rounds. Can't have ya not taking part. We're playing baseball so you can just stand over there and make it look like you're doing something." Castiel nodded in response. "Alright, loser's get into your places."

During the hustle of everyone moving across the field to get into positions, Dean noticed Alistair and his friend, Crowley, home in on Castiel.

"You should have really stayed at home today, Novak. I'm really not in a homo appreciation mood" said Alistair as he leant in towards Castiel.

"You have homo appreciation moods? Explains a lot" said Castiel in retaliation. If anything he really wasn't in the mood for Alistair and his unprovoked bashing.

"Watch your mouth, Novak before I break your jaw."

Dean watched as they became unaware the game had already started. He walked up to Chuck Shurley who was anxiously holding the bat, ready to swing, and took it off him telling him he had to go first. Not wanting to argue, Chuck happily let Dean take his place.

Dean took his position as Jo Harvelle threw the ball better than any of the boys could towards Dean. Making sure he had the right angle, Dean swung the bat at the perfect moment and watched the ball fly and land with a heavy thud on the back of Alistair's head.

Obviously in a lot of pain, Alistair spun around to see Dean walk confidently towards him, the baseball bat resting across his shoulders. "Sorry. You should have been paying more attention instead of picking on him" he said as he nodded at Castiel who was ready to run away at any minute.

"Fuck off, Winchester. It's none of your business who I talk to" Alistair snared, feeling a little dizzy from the blow to the back of the head. "Now walk away while I still let you."

"Out of the two of us, who's the one with the bat?" Dean raised an eyebrow towards the lanky teen.

"Dean! Alistair! I will not have you threatening each other on my field. You'll both serve detention tonight and you'll report to the principle now before you disrupt my class again!" Coach turner came marching down the field towards them.

Alistair faced Castiel and glared at him making him wince. The bully wasn't finished and Castiel knew it. He turned his back to him and made his way off the pitch, sulking as he did so and headed for the principles office.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

Once class was over, Castiel waited a decent amount of time before heading to the locker room to change. It was in everyone's best interests if he changed alone. It meant he could avoid any conflict with his fellow students especially since he indirectly got Alistair sent to the principle.

He was still confused as to why Dean stood up for him. No one ever did. Occasionally Gabriel would but that's a family thing. As a family, the Novak's were close and throughout school, they'd always stand up for each other. This year however, Gabriel didn't make it his number one to look out for Castiel. It was alright though. Castiel was very good at hiding the fact he gets brutally bullied and didn't like to draw attention to it. He'd much rather deal with it in his own way rather than have his big brother become his personal security guard. He had enough of that when Lucifer and Michael were around.

So the underlying reason no one really stood up for him, he guessed, was no one really knew how bad it was. They didn't think Castiel needed the help.

He entered the locker room and was relieved to see it was empty. Looking at his watch, he had eight minutes to change and be in his next class which was do-able.

Castiel walked across the room to where his stuff was hanging up at the back corner. He removed his gym shorts and quickly replaced them with his scruffy, faded blue jeans. Once he pulled his gym shirt off he looked through his things to find his white button-down shirt had been tampered with.

He held it up into view to find it had the word 'Faggot' scribbled over the entire shirt in red ink. No doubt the handy work of Crowley once his friend got sent to see the principle.

"Fuck!" He threw the shirt to the floor and sat on the nearest bench with his head in his hands. If there was ever a time he was ready to fall apart, it would be now. Castiel had prayed that the start of the new school year would bring peace but he'd be damned if he ever caught a break.

The sound of humming made Castiel look up. Someone was coming. It may well be the next class making their way to get changed and Castiel was still sat on a bench, shirtless and very nearly on the verge of crying.

The humming got louder as the person entered the room and went all out, going for the air guitar part of the song he was singing.

Castiel cleared his throat making Dean squeak in surprise and spin around on his heels to face the youngest Novak. "Son of a bitch! You scared the shit outta me!" He made his way across the room towards Castiel. He frowned. "What are you still doing here?"

Avoiding all eye contact, Castiel uncomfortably turned to face the floor. "No reason. What about you?"

"Gotta change at some point. I mean, I know that I rock these gym shorts but can't have the ladies staring all day." Castiel looked through his eyelashes and smiled as Dean showed off a variety of Apollo-like poses. "The whole principle thing took longer than expected." He turned his back on Castiel to return to his belongings. He whipped off his shirt and replaced it with his olive green one from before class.

"Thank you, Dean. For, um... y'know."

"Hey, man. It's no problem. I mean, you helped me out at your brother's smash last night, right? Bela never did find me in the end" he grinned. Dean frowned once more when he looked at Castiel who was still sheepishly sat on the bench, half naked and looking like he had no plans to move. He then turned his attention to the once white shirt on the floor which now had visible red writing strewn across it. "So... yeah... Alistair deserved a stand down- Is that yours?" He pointed to the shirt on the floor.

Castiel looked at it and nodded, biting on his bottom lip nervously.

Dean walked over to and picked it up to study it. "Did Alistair do this? I am going to rip his lungs out!"

"I don't know and please, Dean, it's fine."

"Like hell it is! You can't let them get away with this, Cas!" He threw the offending shirt in the nearest bin and went over to this bags where he took out his brown flannel shirt which he threw at Castiel. "Luck for you I wear, like, twelve layers."

Castiel furrowed his eyebrows. "Dean... I can't take this."

"Well you can't exactly wonder around the halls shirtless. Take it, Cas". Castiel pressed his lips together as he threaded his arms through the sleeves and did up the buttons, covering his once bare chest. "See, perfect fit."

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it. Like I said, you can't walk the school half naked, you'd send half the students fainting and I'd have a rival for best body." Dean went back to attempting his Apollo-like poses making Castiel laugh. Once he stopped, Dean returned the laughter and couldn't help but notice Castiel's smile. The way his eyes lit up and how the laughter lines around them brought all the focus to his astonishing blue orbs. Dean stopped at the thought and shook it from his head. Did he really just think that? "Erm, let me just get changed and we'll head to class. Err, we have History together right?"

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\


	2. Chapter 2

_I quickly want to thank every one who'd read so far and those who have reviewed and followed this. It means the world to me, it really does. _

_Just a quick one to say that I'm from Ireland and am not overly familiar with americanisms so if I've made any mistakes, I apologise and don't be afraid to point them out. I also want to aim to have every chapter this length so I'm going to apologise now if I'm slow with submissions, I want long chapters and that takes time. Thank you. Really really thank you._

* * *

Dean spent the entirety of History class looking at the back of Castiel's head who, as per usual, was sat at the front of class, listening intently. Dean had no idea why but since he found out Cas liked him, he couldn't stop thinking about him. At first he put it down to the fact he was flattered. It's always nice to find out someone likes you and Cas hardly pursued him so it wasn't a creepy kind of crush that made Dean want to avoid him. In fact he felt the total opposite. He wanted to talk to Castiel, he wanted them to be friends, he found himself tempted to move to the front of the class and sit at the empty seat beside him.

He had no idea why it was happening but he couldn't help but be pulled towards Castiel.

Dean thought maybe it was because he felt like he wanted to protect him. The kid was obviously badly bullied but never let on about it and he was obviously shocked when Dean stood up for him on the field earlier and seemed also frightened to take his spare shirt in the changing rooms a few minutes ago. Dean got the idea that not many people helped him.

At the front of the class, Castiel raised his hand to answer a question causing his newly acquired shirt to raise up just a little. Dean watched the muscles stretch and retract as he brought his hand down again and couldn't help but bring his mind back to the locker rooms. He didn't think Castiel was one to work out but he was certainly naturally well built. Dean expected him to be thin and wiry but his trench coat hides a lot. Cas' arms seem strong and toned, the same goes for his chest and stomach.

Dean's eyed widened when he realised he was picturing another guy half naked. He shook the thoughts out of his head and tried to concentrate on the lesson but it was difficult when Cas was only a few rows in front of him.

Dean wondered why it was Castiel had didn't have many friends. He was a nice guy. Yeah he was shy and wouldn't be the first person to start a conversation but once you got him talking he was great, Dean had experienced that last night in Cas' room when he was busy hiding from Bela. And it wasn't like Cas was a bad looking guy. He was very easy on the eye and not the mention the fact he had permanent sex hair, Dean was surprised he hadn't been snatched up already.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

Castiel took his time packing up his things after class to avoid the lunchtime rush. He looked around the room to see Dean walking with Jo Harvelle. He was laughing with her. Dean's smile was something that made Castiel melt. The way his entire face lit up like a beacon, he couldn't look away. He had obviously been staring a little too long because Dean caught his eye and nodded at him. Castiel smiled and nodded back, tearing his attention away from the Winchester and back to his bag.

His phone started vibrating in his pocket and Castiel hurried to reach for it already knowing it would be one of his brothers, no one else ever calls him.

"Hello?"

"_Hey it's Lucifer. Listen quickly, Michael just found out about Gabriel's bash last night and is preparing his 'I am very disappointed in you' speech."_

"Oh God. Okay."

"_He knows you had nothing to do with it because you're boring but I'd hang back after school if I were you if you want to avoid the mayhem. Just thought I'd give you a heads up."_

"Thanks, Lucifer." Castiel smiled. The day Gabriel gets away with something will be a miracle.

"_No problem. Don't let on to Gabriel if you see him. If we're getting a grilling for this, he can't run. See ya later, Cassie."_

And with that, Lucifer hung up. It was an unspoken rule that whenever the house is going to be tense from something Castiel had nothing to do with, Lucifer would let him know so he can avoid it all together. If Castiel were to be present at Michael's shouting match, he wouldn't escape his older brother's accusations. He'd no doubt turn to him and say something like 'And you, Castiel. You know better, why didn't you stop them?'. As if there was anything he could do to stop his siblings.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

Heading Lucifer's warning, Castiel stayed behind after school in the library to do some work. He only planned to stay for an hour and then walk home, that's all the time he'd need for the Novak household to calm down following the aftermath of Michael's displeasure.

Since their mother died just after Castiel was born and their father went missing ten years ago, the Novak siblings were pretty much on their own. Their uncle, Balthazar, looked after them when they were young but stepped aside once Michael and Lucifer become old enough to take responsibility for their two little brothers and little sister. Balthazar was still around, he still lived with them but might as well be one of the brothers, his immaturity levels were high enough to rival Gabriel's.

They were an incredibly close family. Michael liked to try his best to keep his family well behaved which was easier said than done. He once tried to take them to church every sunday in hope they would grow up to be sensible but once his twin, Lucifer, rebelled against this, the rest of the family followed. Michael often referred to Lucifer as being the devil reincarnated. Michael still went to church every sunday and was a pretty good Christian. The day he found out about Castiel's sexual preferences was a difficult one for everyone. Anna stayed with Castiel as support while the rest of the family confronted Michael, letting him know how it shouldn't matter who Castiel likes, as long as he's happy. Accepting that he was in modern times, Michael tried his best to put it past him but Castiel could tell it still bothered him. He just made sure not to remind his older brother daily about it and Michael made sure to be as open minded as possible for his brother's sake.

The sound of someone behind him brought him back to the present. Castiel was sat at a desk along the back corner of the library, his books spread out in front of him. He turned around to see a freshman struggling to reach a book on a shelf much further away from his fingertips. Castiel stood up and reached above the boy to get it down for him.

"Thanks" smiled the boy. Castiel recognised him as Sam Winchester, Dean's little brother. They had met briefly in front of the school gates yesterday morning.

"No problem." Castiel smiled back then returned to his seat.

Sam hovered around for a few seconds, clutching his book before he asked Castiel if he could sit with him. Castiel nodded and the boys sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, concentrating on their work.

Castiel looked up to see Sam frowning down the pages across the desk. "You look stuck. Do you need help?"

Sam hesitated before nodding a little and sliding his work over so Castiel could see. The older boy looked over the pages for a few seconds, almost admitting math wasn't his strong point and he wasn't too sure why he volunteered his help but smiled when he got the answer. "X is thirty-two. You have to multiply the brackets first and then do everything else."

Sam pondered this for a minute, obviously working out how the other boy did it. "Oh. Yeah I get it. Then you minus it from seventy-nine, right?" Castiel nodded once more and Sam smiled at him. "Thank you. I'm Sam Winchester by the way. I think your brother introduced us a bit yesterday."

"Yeah. I'm Castiel."

"That's a cool name. Why are you here so late?"

Castiel shrugged. "I had work to do and brothers to avoid. What about you?"

"My big brother's in detention. I have to wait for him to get a ride home."

"Ah." Castiel remembered why Dean was in detention. He challenged Alistair during gym for picking on him.

"Why are you avoiding your brothers?"

"Erm, Gabriel threw a party without our oldest brother's permission. Michael found out and he's not fun to be around when he's mad. I'm the only one who wasn't involved, the rest of them are so I'll just let them be." Castiel grinned at the thought of Michael attempting to shout down Lucifer or Anna. Or any of them for that matter. The Novak children were all very opinionated. He imagined Balthazar had the sense to flee the house once he got a sniff of what was going down. Castiel looked back at Sam and saw a cut across his jaw. "Hey. What happened?"

Sam quickly placed his hand against his face to hide it but it was too late. He stared at the table. "Some kid in my year. I was sticking up for a friend and the bully went for me instead. It's not bad, really."

Castiel could tell Sam didn't want to talk too much about it and he could sympathize. The amount of times he'd come home with a black eye or bloodied nose and wanted nothing more than his family to leave him alone was too much to count. "Okay".

They both continued their work for another forty minutes or so, Castiel helping Sam whenever he asked for it.

"Hey, Sammy! I tell you, detention these days just isn't as inventive as it used to be. That was dead boring". Castiel looked up to see Dean walking towards them. Obviously not expecting to see him sat next to Sam, Dean's gaze met Castiel's and he gave him a soft smile. "Hey, Cas."

Castiel looked away and back at his books but nothing he was reading made sense. All he could think of was Dean. He listened to the other boy pull out a chair and sit next to his brother. He daren't look up to meet those huge green eyes that never fail to make his legs feel on the verge of giving in. He daren't look up and watch his lips move as he talked, his lips so damn kissable it pained Castiel to not be able to press them against his. He cursed himself as he felt his pants grow tighter. He was pathetic, he knew it. He could hardly be in the same room with Dean and _not_ get turned on. It hurt Castiel to know that something he wanted so bad he could never even come close to having. Even if Dean wasn't straight, there was no way on God's earth he would consider Castiel. He was lanky, he was scruffy, he was a social hermit and always the butt of everyone's jokes. It would be embarrassing for Dean to want to be with him.

Castiel knew he was getting upset for no reason. He'd come to terms with no one wanting him and it was fine. Maybe once he left high school and moved on he'd manage to get a new name for himself and maybe someone would want him then but right now he was a nobody.

All of a sudden Castiel found himself getting overworked, angry at himself and everyone else which wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that he was getting angry and upset over Dean when he'd been nothing but kind to him. All he had to do was look down at his chest and see how Dean gave him his own shirt to know this. But it would never be enough. And to avoid hurting anymore, Castiel stood up and packed his things away knowing he should avoid Dean from now on. If Dean continued being kind, Castiel would only like him more and more and it would cause him so much more pain.

Throwing his bag over his shoulder, Castiel made a move to leave the library.

"Hey, Cas? Where are you going?" Dean enquired as he watched the other boy leave.

"I'm sorry, I need to go home."

"Do you want a ride?" Castiel turned around and frowned. People weren't nice to him, he reminded himself. Dean didn't like him he tried to tell himself.

"No. Thank you."

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

Castiel began his long walk home. He didn't mind walking home. It wasn't painfully far and it was a nice walk. It was starting to get dark and the streetlights were beginning to glow. This was Castiel's favorite time of the evening. It always seemed so much more pleasant and peaceful. Castiel liked peace.

"Oi, Gayboy!" Castiel peered over his shoulder to see three guys marching up behind him. Their silhouettes and voices, he recognised belonged to Alistair, Crowley and Gordon.

He increased his pace and ignored them, hoping they were just passing and wanted to throw a few names his way but he wouldn't get let off that easy.

They matched his pace and eventually caught up with him.

Gordon lashed out and pulled Castiel back by the collar. "Leave me alone" moaned Castiel. He just wanted to get home.

"Thanks to you I just had to spend and hour and a half in detention bored out of my skull. I told you you'd pay later and here we are" snared Alistair who, despite being smaller than Castiel, threw his shoulders back in order to look more intimidating.

"It was indirectly my fault. I don't see why I should pay" muttered Castiel under his breath.

"You're gonna pay because I don't want diseased ridden homos like you near me." Alistair drew his fist back and threw it forward, squaring Castiel directly on the cheek causing him to fall to the floor.

Gordon bent down and gripped the front of Castiel's shirt, pulling him up so he was immediately in line for another blow. And another. And another. Once he let go, Cas' vision went black as he tried desperately to stand but his attempts were in vain when Crowley kicked him in the stomach, winding the air out of him.

Castiel lay there defeated and accepted his fate as all three bullies took it in turn to boot him; Alistair being overly fond of aiming for his face. He felt pain surge through his bones and he felt warmth flood his face as blood poured from his nose and other injuries.

After Gordon sat him up one last time and delivered one last blow to the face, all three of them decided to call it a day.

Alistair bent down and brought his face near Castiel's now broken one. "I hope you've received the message. Only Satan can help you now and if I ever see you again, even he wont be around for you."

Castiel couldn't help but smirk when he realised what Alistair would think if he knew he older brother was named Lucifer.

Once they were out of sight, Castiel brought his hand up against the wall next to him to attempt to help him to his feet. But the moment pain swelled through his entire body he thought it useless and collapsed once more to the floor.

Spitting blood from his mouth, Castiel prayed for someone to help. He was sure he had a broken nose and the majority of his ribs were badly bruised. His lip was split and his right eyelid was so swollen he could barely see.

He did, however, hear the roar of a car engine getting louder as it pulled up onto the pavement.

"Cas?" He heard someone shout his name and a car door slam. "Sammy, get my phone, call Gabriel." Dean ran up to him and fell to his knees. "Cas? Hey. What the fuck happened?"

Castiel tried to speak but as soon as he opened his mouth, blood flooded his chin.

"Dean, he's not answering. What should we do?" Sam got out the car to help his brother pick Cas up.

"Bring him home. Bobby can help. Hey, Cas, I got you." He gently placed a hand on Castiel's chest to steady him as he picked him up.

"Dean, I'm sorry." Castiel could feel himself slip out of consciousness.

"What are you sorry for, you stupid bastard?" Dean guided him towards the Impala.

"I think I have blood on your shirt."

Dean laughed as he threw open the back door to his car. "Don't worry, Cas. Just get in."

Sam ran around the other side of the car and opened the door, allowing him to guide Castiel in from the other side who in turn tried his best to both steady himself with a shaky arm and minimize the amount of blood on the upholstery. He closed his eyes as he felt the car pull off. He was going to have a damn hard time trying to not like Dean after this.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

It had been three days and Castiel hadn't returned to school. Dean noticed. When he asked Gabriel how his brother was he shrugged in return saying Castiel hardly comes out of his room despite their best efforts. The Novak's weren't as worried as Dean was. They know Castiel better than anyone and know that he just needs some time and space.

Dean, however, thought that what Cas needed most was someone to tell him to man up and come back to school so after his final class of the day, Dean dropped Sam off home and then headed towards the Novak's.

Once he got out the car, Dean stopped and looked up at the house. They lived on a street laden with trees, most of which seemed to congregate on the lawn surrounding the house. It had a nice feel to it. It was a fairly large house, it had to be to hold all the six members that lived there, each having their own room. But the house was old and well used so it was easy for Michael to afford keeping it but it wasn't a dump. They did what they could with what they had and it suited them. Hectic and sometimes dysfunctional but strong and standing.

Dean made his way to the front porch and knocked heavily on the door, a few seconds later to be greeted by Anna.

"Hi, Dean. Gabriel's not in I'm afraid. To be honest I don't actually know where he is." She looked past Dean and towards the street as if in hope of seeing her little brother.

"That's fine. I'm actually here to see Cas."

"Really? Well good luck." Anna stepped aside and let him through smiling. "He's in his room."

Dean nodded in thanks and made his way upstairs while smiling to himself. He'd been here plenty of times but never to see Castiel. It was usually on invitation from Gabriel to help wind up his brothers.

Dean lightly tapped on Castiel's door and he quickly got a reply. "Go away. If you tell me one more time to come out of my room I'll kill you, Anna."

"Not Anna."

Dean stayed as quiet as possible so he could hear Castiel moving about in his room, obviously panicking and from the sounds of it, putting on some pants or at least making himself decent.

He turned the key and opened the door enough to poke his head out. "Dean? What are you doing here?"

Dean's smile fell when he saw the heavy bruising across Castiel's face. His cheekbones were highlighted purple and his left eye was beginning to blacken. His bottom lip was starting to heal where it had been badly split and it was sure to leave a scar. He managed to bring the fluffy bangs of his hair down to cover the left side of his forehead which was shiny with bruises. Dean wasn't sure why he was so shocked, it was a thousand times worse when he picked Cas up from the pavement and managed to clean him up when they got him home but he'd forgotten what the aftermath would be once he started to heal. He didn't even want to imagine the damage done to his body.

"I just came to see if you were alright. Haven't seen you at school these past few days." Dean pushed his hands into his pockets and peered through into Castiel's room, hoping for an invitation to enter.

"Oh... I'm fine thank you." One thing Castiel wasn't so gifted with was reading people. He left Dean in the hallway, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet for a minute before he asked if he could come in. "Oh. I'm sorry. Yes." Castiel stepped aside and Dean entered the bedroom for the second time within two weeks.

Dean took the time to look properly around the room leaving Castiel standing there awkwardly, trying to find something to say. Dean homed in on the bookshelf across the room. Every shelf was drowning in paperbacks of all sizes. Most of the titles Dean had never heard of but some he recognised like Stephen King's 'The Shining' and 'Carrie', both being perhaps the only two books Dean had read for pleasure. On the top shelf sat a heavy looking leather-bound book. It was clad with protective plastic and sat on a wooden support. It looked ancient.

"What's that?" Dean pointed to it, too scared to touch it.

"Err... that belonged to my father. It's a bible from 1604. It... it's pretty fragile but it's beautiful to look at." Castiel reached up and plucked it from it's stand. It was bigger than his head and had intricate font across the cover.

"Your family religious then?"

Castiel nodded. "Michael more than anyone." He smiled at the book and gently placed it back where it belonged. He turned his body to face Dean but kept his eyes fixed on the carpet. "Dean... I should thank you for what you did. I don't know how to repay you but please be assured that I -"

Dean cut him off. "Hey, man. It's cool. Don't worry about it... You never did tell me what happened though."

Castiel shook his head. "It was nothing. I don't know who did it."

"You're a terrible liar."

Castiel frowned. He knew he couldn't lie for shit. He knew that Dean knew who did it. He finally looked up to meet his eyes and he found it hard to breathe. Dean's incredibly large green eyes wondered across his face, studying each bruise that spoiled it like he had done when Cas first opened the door. It made him feel self-conscious so he turned away and sat on the edge of his bed.

"So... when you coming back to school?" Dean stood uncomfortably. He wanted to sit next to Cas but decided against it. The kid already looked like he was out of his comfort zone as it was.

"Oh... I... I don't know. I don't think I'll... erm... I might just stay here."

"You're going to drop out?" Dean was honestly surprised. Castiel was the smartest kid he knew, there was no way he was going to quit.

"No. I can get my exams sent home if I talk to the school and I..." He didn't know what else to say.

"For fuck sake, Cas. You can't let those fuckers run you out of the school. I wont let them."

"Pardon?"

"I said I wont let them. They're dicks and there's no chance they'll hurt you again if I'm around."

"Why would you do that?" Castiel looked honestly puzzled. He reminded Dean of a confused kitten.

Dean thought for a minute. There was certainly something about Cas that made Dean want to stick with him. Maybe it was because he reminded him of Sam or maybe it was his innocence but he felt the need to be with him. Hell, he drove round after school just to see if he was okay. He'd never done that for Jo and she was his best friend. Dean thought back to how Cas' uncle declared how his nephew harbored a crush for him and although it was something that should make Dean feel uncomfortable, it didn't. He was stood in Castiel's room, fully aware of his desire to jump his bones and it didn't bother him. Maybe Dean's want for a friendship wasn't entirely fair to Cas seeing how he felt but there was a part of Dean that wanted the selfish companionship anyway. Finally, Dean answered Cas. "Because you're my friend."

"Friend?" Castiel quizzically tipped his head to the side and Dean tried to hold back a smile. There was defiantly something about him that he liked.

"Yeah, Cas." smiled Dean. I wont let anything happen to you". He looked down at his watch and noted the time. He should get back soon, Bobby was working late and Sam would need feeding. "See you tomorrow, yeah?"

Castiel looked at him, alarmed. "What? No."

"Cas, I promise they wont lay another hand on you." And then Dean left, leaving Cas feeling a little lightheaded and startled.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

Castiel decided that if Dean was offering to be his friend, he wouldn't turn him down. He would push away his feelings for him and carry on. Because it was just a crush, he told himself it had to be, if it wasn't he may lose Dean and the only friend he's had.

Which was the reason he was sat in Gabriel's car on their way to school. Which is the reason he wont let Gordon or Alistair frighten him into coming back. Castiel closed his eyes and told himself everything would be okay. Dean told him he wouldn't let anything happen. He trusted Dean. Granted, he didn't know him entirely well yet but something told him to trust him.

Once they parked up, Castiel got out and slammed the car door shut. They had arrived a little early as to avoid the rush of students.

"Come on, Cassie" Gabriel said as he threw his bag over his shoulder. He promised his little brother he'd stick with him whenever he could.

Pulling his hood up, Castiel marched towards the building and refused to look at anyone he passed, leaving Gabriel behind him.

Once he made it to his classroom, twenty minutes early, he threw his bag down beside his desk and sat down, bringing his arms up to the desk and lowering his head into them in an attempt to shelter himself.

He thought he was mad. He was stupid for coming in so soon especially with his facial bruises still so shockingly noticeable. If Alistair, Gordon or Crowley saw him, he was dead. Definitely.

He heard someone sit down next to him and was frightened to see who it was. Although the fact they were in class as early as he was felt a little less threatening.

"Castiel?" He twisted his head and peeked over one of his arms to see Kevin Tran sat beside him. "Are you alright? You haven't been in school for three days" he stated.

Castiel nodded. "Yes" he mumbled. The truth was, he wasn't alright. He was genuinely afraid. He was only there in hope Dean meant what he said and he really wanted to be his friend. He'd spent years dealing with kids picking on him but never before had he been this frightened by it.

More students began pouring into class as time went by and Castiel concentrated on listening to them, hoping desperately not to hear Alistair's voice in amongst the crowd. He kept his head nestled in his arms, he was very comfortable, as he tried to remember if Dean was in this class or not. Castiel began to doubt Dean was serious when he said they were friends or when he said he'd watch out for Cas. Why would he do that? What would possess him to want to befriend him? He helped him already, which Castiel was grateful for, but what would Dean get out of continuing? It made no sense.

Castiel heard Mrs Mills shush the class as she came in. Everyone started to quieten down and Cas still kept his head resting against his arms on his desk, listening to his classmates hushed whispers as they continued their conversations.

"Okay, everyone shut up now. Pamela, get your feet of the desk and Castiel, please sit up and remove your hood. This isn't your living room. Open your books" said Mrs Mills. Castiel ignored her. He could still leave and go home if he wanted. He could still run and move schools or move to a different state. It wasn't too late. "Mr Novak, if you would please wake up and pay attention. Don't think I haven't noticed your absence. Sit up and catch up."

He could hear her hovering over him, her foot tapping the floor near his desk. He moaned as he sat up and pulled his hood down. He could hear people gasping and whispering as they saw the bruises across his face which still hadn't healed and wont for a while. Castiel bit down nervously on his bottom lip, feeling where Alistair had spilt it a few days a go. Lowering his head a little, he looked around the room and saw that Dean was in fact in this class. He met Castiel's eyes and smiled.

After getting the class back on track, Mrs Mills turned to the board and began talking about one of Shakespeare's Sonnets. Castiel pulled his hood up once again, highly doubting his teacher would ask him to remove it again after seeing why he wanted so much to keep it up.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

Castiel held back once the class finished to let everyone out before him. He could see people look back at him as they left. He could hear their whispering. Soon Alistair and Gordon would catch wind that he was here and probably come after him.

One he was satisfied he could leave with minimal hassle he stood up and headed for the door.

"Hey, Cas!" He turned to see Dean make his way over from the back of the class, Jo Harvelle following behind him. "You turned up then. Good on ya."

Castiel looked from Dean to Jo and then to the floor. "Yes. Although I am starting to regret it."

"Don't."

"What happened to your face?" asked Jo. She was Dean's best friend and they were usually always together.

Castiel shook his head. "Nothing" he said before he hitched his bag up his shoulder and marched out the door.

"I'll see you at lunch, yeah Cas?" He heard Dean call after him.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

Dean collapsed into his seat in the cafeteria next to Ash. He was joined by Jo, Adam, Gabriel, Pam and Lisa. He nodded at each of them as a greeting before commencing the important matter of delving into his cheeseburger. The food at the school wasn't all that great but the cheeseburgers were something Dean could very easily fall in love with.

"Hey, Gabe? What happened to your brother?" asked Jo.

Gabriel shrugged knowing Castiel wouldn't want him talking about it especially when someone like Lisa could relay it back to Gordon. "Mugged?"

"It looked pretty bad. Do you know who did it?" asked Adam, he severely regretted going for the pasta and not the burger after watching Dean practically orgasm over it.

"Nope" lied Gabriel. Of course he knew. He could very easily guess. Castiel wasn't one for sharing but he was the worst liar that ever existed.

Once Dean had devoured his cheeseburger he looked up and saw Castiel sat in the corner on a table alone. Dean frowned as he watched the guy play with his food, his head down and his eyes staying clear of everyone. Dean was serious when he said Cas was his friend.

"Hey, guys? Do you mind if we sit with Cas? He's alone" asked Dean.

"Who's Cas?" Pam looked confused as she surveyed the cafeteria.

"Castiel. Gabriel's brother. The one we were _just_ talking about."

"Oh. Why?"

"He's by himself. I've been talking to him lately. He's a cool guy."

Gabriel sighed. "Well, he _is_ my brother so I guess _if I have to_."

"Shut up, Gabe. I know you want to" said Dean as he stood up.

"Yeah I know." Gabriel joined him and looked to the rest of their group. "Just us then?"

"I'll go" said Jo as he stood too.

Dean was already approaching Cas when Adam, Ash and Pam rolled their eyes and gathered their trays to join them leaving Lisa looking offended.

"Why are we going to sit with that loser?" she said to herself.

Castiel looked up when he saw Dean's hand waving in front of his face. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like, dumbass. We're sitting with you" said Dean as he nestled in next to Cas, possibly too close.

"I don't understand."

"You didn't think I was going to leave you high and dry did you?" Dean reached over and pinched one of Cas' fries as he said so.

Castiel's brows furrowed as he saw his brother and friends join them. Gabriel sat on the other side of him leaving everyone else to squeeze onto the table opposite them.

Adam, Ash, Jo and Pam introduced themselves and quickly fell back into easy conversation.

Castiel continuously looked to Dean for reassurance whenever someone spoke to him. He really wasn't used to making small talk with people other than his family and he felt way out of his comfort zone.

Ash asked about his interests. Pam asked about his love life. Gabriel asked about his family teasing that he has a very cool older brother and for the first time in a while, Castiel smiled. He was still very confused about the situation and was a little suspicious of why he was being welcomed into the group but Dean was there and he was happy.

Eventually Lisa decided to join them and spent the rest of lunch eyeing Cas in a way that suggested she was going to gut him. Castiel didn't like Lisa.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

As the months went by, Castiel was becoming more and more confident with his new found friends.

Every lunch break would start with him sat alone, not quite sure if he should join everyone but they always ended up coming over to him anway. The group's table was always the one Cas was sat at. He rarely spent time in an empty classroom at lunch anymore. He became sure that they weren't befriending him as part of a prank.

He became closer to Dean too. He learnt more about him and Dean learnt more about Cas. They spent a vast amount of time outside of school together, usually at Dean's place, watching rubbish films as Dean tried to educate Cas on the greatness of cheesy horror. On the weekends, after Dean finished his shift at Bobby's autoshop, they'd head to The Roadhouse. It was the bar run by Jo's mom and close friend of the Winchesters, Ellen, who seemed to turn a blind eye at the fact both Dean and Cas were underage and give them a few beers. However Castiel would turn down any alcohol in favor of a diet coke.

Cas hadn't heard from Alistair, Gordon or Crowley in a while either. They usually just took to glaring at him as if he was a piece of shit but they rarely approached him or threatened him. Possibly due to the fact he was usually with Dean and everyone knew what happened when you got on the wrong side of him. People saw that when some kid attempted to punch Sam. He didn't get close enough before Dean yanked him back and broke his nose, much to Sammy's horror.

Castiel was becoming happier. He was smiling more. For the first time in his life he had a friend. He had a _best_ friend. It was unfortunate it was the guy he was very slowly falling in love with.

After school one day in November, Jo approached Dean on his way to meet Cas. Gabriel got given yet another detention so he'd have to give Castiel a ride home. She skipped up behind him and stopped him for a minute.

"Hey, Dean. Listen, you know how it's my birthday this Saturday?"

Dean grinned widely. "How could I forget?"

"You did last year" frowned Jo. They'd been friends practically since birth and she was never going to let him forget that. "Anyway, Mom's giving us the Roadhouse for the night, booze and everything. So obviously I wanted to check if you're free."

"Sure am. Wouldn't miss it for the world" smiled Dean. Ellen had to be the best mom ever. "Who else is coming?"

"Pretty much everyone. Check if Cas is good to come too, yeah?"

"Of course. I gotta head out. I'll speak to you later." Dean waved his friend goodbye and headed over to the parking lot where Cas would inevitably already be.

Dean smiled to himself. Cas had quickly become his best friend. It was weird. The only other person he thought of as his best friend was Jo and that was only because he knew her his entire life. He'd always known there was something about Castiel.

As the parking lot came into view, so did Cas. He had his head buried in a book and he was sat on the hood of the Impala. If it was anyone else, Dean would kill them for sitting on his baby but he didn't mind when it was Cas. He was with Sam who was blabbing on about something, Cas was pretending to listen out of politeness and nodding every now and then. He was wearing scruffy black jeans and a white button down shirt. His tan trench coat, now his signature piece of clothing, was hanging lazily off his shoulders. As per usual his hair looked like he had just woken up or, as Dean preferred to think of it, as if he had just been roughly fucked and hadn't had time to straighten himself up.

There certainly was something about Castiel and as of recent it was nearly causing Dean to doubt his sexuality.

Dean had lost count of the number of nights he woke up in a cold sweat after dreaming of Cas with a raging hard on in his shorts. The first time if happened it scared the hell out him but as it began to happen more often he just accepted it. He just put it down to the fact he hadn't got laid in a while and Cas was a good looking guy. And Cas _really_ was a good looking guy. He was the kind of person who didn't know either. He remained oblivious. But everyone, guy or girl, that came into the Roadhouse while they were there always had to do a double take when he caught their eye. It was only right that Dean noticed it too.

But Castiel was his best friend and Dean was straight. Nothing would ever come of it. Plus, there never seemed to be any extension of feelings after Balthazar accidentally told Dean Cas liked him at the beginning of the year. If Cas still liked him, he was very good at hiding it. Of course Dean was just as oblivious about Cas' feelings as Cas was about his God given good looks. Everyone could tell that Cas was head over heels for him and everyone was starting to suspect Dean felt the same way even if he didn't fully know it himself. Ash and Pam had started counting the amount of times the two boys would start accidentally eye-fucking in the middle of class or during lunch. It was now somewhere in the low sixties.

Castiel was so deep into his book that he didn't notice Dean walk up next to him until the Winchester boy playfully pushed him off the hood of the car. Castiel's limbs spread out in panic as he hit the floor. He looked up and frowned at Dean who was now laughing hysterically to himself. "I'm sorry, dude. That was just too perfect." He extended a hand towards his friend.

Castiel took it and he was hauled to his feet. "I hope you're pleased to know that hurt."

"Hmm. Just a little". He looked over to Sam who had an eyebrow raised in displeasure at his brother. "What?" Sam continued to stare down his big brother and Dean sighed and turned to Cas. "Castiel. I am very sorry if I hurt you when I pushed you. Please accept my humblest apologies towards you and your, probably now, bruised ass." Dean bent down into a bow to milk his apology causing both Sam and Castiel to laugh.

"Stand up, Dean. You're embarrassing yourself" laughed Castiel who picked his book up from the floor and walked over to the passenger side of the car.

All three boys got in the car and Dean pulled off out of the parking lot and away from the school.

They pulled up outside the Novak house and Dean stopped Cas just before he got out. "By the way, you're free for Jo's birthday party this Saturday at the Roadhouse, right?"

Castiel looked puzzled. "Jo invited me?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't she?"

"I don't know. Erm... yes I think I am. Although if Michael asks we're somewhere else. He still doesn't know we go there and I think he would not approve."

Dean nodded. "Always happy to lie to your big brother. See you later, Cas."

Castiel waved them off as they pulled away. And Dean couldn't help but smile as he drove off. Sam rolled his eyes thinking about how unknowingly smitten his brother was.


	3. Chapter 3

_So here we are. Another chapter. Don't get used to the quick uploads, I'm taking advantage of having hardly any schoolwork at the moment to get this done. _

_I want to thank you for those who have reviewed, they really help me and they're what I strive for, so if it's not too much trouble, it'd be cool to have some more._

_Anyway, new chapter. A little predictable? Maybe. But I like it._

* * *

Saturday rolled around fairly quickly and Castiel was somewhat excited for Jo's birthday. It was his first social event that wasn't thrown by his family. He would have been lying if he said he wasn't nervous, he knew he'd end up sat in the corner for most of the night but he was okay with that. He was happy enough to get an invite. Besides, when he mentioned to Dean he was having doubts about going, the Winchester boy not only reassured him that it'd be fine, he also threatened that if he didn't go, he'd never talk to him again which caused Castiel to roll his eyes and promise to attend.

Castiel closed his bedroom door and wondered downstairs. It was only 4pm and Dean was picking both him and Gabriel up at 8. Dean hadn't even finished his shift at Bobby's yet.

He padded into the kitchen to find Lucifer, Michael and Balthazar sat at the table arguing.

"What's going on?" asked Castiel.

"Uriel's coming in to town and Michael can't grow the balls to tell him to piss off" replied Lucifer, his voice heavy with anger.

"He's coming here? When?"

"Next month. He wants to check in on us. See that we're behaving so to say" answered Michael much calmer than his twin brother.

"I don't understand. We are behaving. Why is he coming here?" Castiel didn't like Uriel. Where Michael had become much more liberal over the years, Uriel had grown to be more of the opposite. The extended Novak family came from strong religious beliefs, many of them working for the church. Once Castiel's parents died, Michael learnt not to push the same beliefs upon his siblings like the rest of their family did or else he'd drive them away. Uriel however, although he rarely saw the house and those who lived in it, wanted them to rejoin their cousins, uncles and aunts and their ways. He was perhaps the only one who hadn't lost faith in them. "Balthazar, you can tell him not to come, right?"

"Sorry, kid. I'd really rather not cross him. Just suck it up and deal with him when he arrives. I can't imagine he'll stay for too long."

"He's going to _stay_ with us?"

"It's the best fucking way to keep an eye on us apparently."

"Lucifer. Mind your language." Michael stared down his brother who was far from being cooperative.

"Fuck off. You know what he's like, Michael. He'll have us on house arrest, he'll _force_ us to go to church, he'll ban alcohol from the house. We'll have practically no fun."

"You'll have to just put up with it for as long as he's here. Best to follow his rules so he wont feel as if he'll have to return any time soon."

"What about, Cassie? What's he going to do when he finds out he's a queer?"

"Hey!"

"Sorry, Cassie." Lucifer gave Castiel an apologetic look. He didn't mean it. He always got like that whenever an outside family member tries to meddle with them. He liked how things were. He liked the freedom they had compared to their cousins. Lucifer stood up, almost knocking the chair from out underneath him and raised his hands. "I'm not doing it. I swear to god I'm leaving."

"Lucifer. Please don't make things difficult. You'll make it so much more worse" said Balthazar. He seemed just as defeated as Michael was. He didn't want it anymore than Lucifer did. He hated Uriel just as much but he knew the best way to allow him to leave happy was to cooperate. "Cassie, do you think you can avoid pissing Uriel off?"

Castiel frowned. Balthazar and Michael were right. He looked at Lucifer and then to the floor. "I suppose. But if he questions me, I'm not going to lie about who I am."

"That's fine. I can't imagine he'll walk up to you and ask 'Hey Castiel, do you per chance like it up the arse?'" Castiel winced a little. "Lucifer? Reckon you can behave?" asked Balthazar.

Lucifer glared at him. "I'm not making any promises. He's not arriving for a while, right? We can argue about this more later. Right now I'm going out." And with that, Lucifer stormed out the back door leaving Castiel, Michael and Balthazar looking a little struck.

"I don't want Uriel here" stated Castiel.

"None of us do" said Michael.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

8pm rolled around quickly after that and Dean was knocking on the front door.

Castiel opened the door and smiled a little. "Hey. Gabriel's just coming down."

"You alright, Cas?" asked Dean. Castiel was still a little off after the revelation that his Uncle Uriel was planning a visit.

"Yeah I'm fine. I'll tell you later."

"Sure" smiled Dean. He could tell something major was up but all he could do for the time being was take Cas to Jo's and get him wasted to forget about it. He let his eyes wonder across his friend and couldn't help but smile. Castiel was wearing yet another pair of scruffy black jeans, a white button down shirt and his usual trench coat. Dean made a mental note to take him shopping seeing as he seemed to only own a variation of the same outfit. Although Dean's smile grew wider then he looked at Castiel's chest. "Dude, are you wearing a tie?"

Cas looked down as if to double check. "Yeah. Why? What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing" said Dean as he turned around to walk to his car, still grinning widely.

Gabriel come bounding down the stairs and pushed past Cas as he ran out the front door. "Let's get wasted!" he shouted as he called shotgun.

Castiel rolled his eyes and closed the front door behind him.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

The Roadhouse was pretty much full of people. The party was already in full swing once they arrived and after greeting Jo and wishing her a happy birthday, Dean headed for the bar where he saw Ellen.

"Hey, Winchester. How are you, boy?" she asked as she pasted him a shot.

"Good. Hey, thanks for this Ellen. Great party. How are you not going to get arrested for serving minors?" Not that Dean really cared as long as he was being given alcohol.

"Few good friends on the force promised to turn a blind eye tonight. They owe me a favor. I won't hang around for long. I'd rather not watch what Jo gets up to on her eighteenth" smiled Ellen. She had to be the coolest mom to ever exist.

After saying his goodbyes to Ellen, Dean collected a few drinks and carried them over to the table where Cas was sat alone.

"Where's everyone gone?"

"Gabriel thought a girl was eyeing him up so he went to talk to her and Jo's at the bar with Ash."

"Just us then. Drink" demanded Dean as he placed a collection of shots on the table.

"No thank you. I'll be alright with diet coke."

"Oh come on, Cas. Stop being a prude and have at least one with me. Please."

Castiel frowned as he stared at Dean who was attempting to give him the biggest puppy-eyes he'd seen. He sighed and reached for a glass causing Dean to grin widely who proceeded to throw it down his throat. Castiel mirrored him and nearly chocked. "Oh my god, Dean, what was that?"

"Whiskey. Another?" Castiel shook his head and went up to the bar to get himself a soft drink. "Suit yourself" Dean called after him, devouring the rest of the shots he'd gathered.

A few hours later, and many, many shots later, Dean was walking around on unstable legs looking for Castiel. Instead he found Jo, Ash and Adam. "Hey... y'seen Cas?" he slurred.

"Nope. Thought he was with you" replied Adam who seemed as if he hadn't had much to drink.

"Nah. Lost 'im about a half hour 'go."

"He's sat at that table over there" nodded Ash.

Dean spun around, grabbing on to the bar to steady himself as he did so. He saw that Cas was indeed sat where Ash had pointed out. He wasn't alone. "Who'sat?" mumbled Dean.

"Err... that's Rachel or something." Jo was surprisingly well put together despite the fact that Dean knew she had more to drink than he did.

Dean had to squint in order to stop himself from seeing double as he watched the girl sat next to his friend. Castiel looked uncomfortable as she leant in to him, brushing her shoulder with his and giggling every time he said something and Dean knew that whatever he had said didn't deserve a giggle like that. Dean knew that sort of giggle. He'd heard it many times whenever he knew the girl in question was interested and was willing to go to the car with him. There was no way Castiel was making any sort of attempt to get her into bed. The way he kept edging away from her every time she got closer was evidence enough. "I don' like 'er. We need to stop her from... from _molesting _Cas!" Dean's speech was becoming slower and harder to understand. It didn't help that he continued to down a shot glass of whiskey while watching Cas.

"He's a big boy, Dean. He can manage himself" stated Adam. He now had a hand on Jo's shoulder to stop her from keeling over on her stool.

"No. No he can't. He... he's like a kitten."

"A kitten?" laughed Ash. "What kind of kitten, Dean?"

Dean knotted his eyebrows together, deep in thought for a minute. "Dunno. But we 'ave to help!" He didn't even allow Ash to attempt to stop him as he jumped from his barstool and stumbled over to the table.

By the time he got there the table was empty and he was left spinning in circles trying to see Castiel. Adam caught his eye, he was pointing towards the bathroom trying to tell Dean that Castiel had moved in the time it took him to sway across the room. Dean slowly nodded as he finally understood and headed for the men's room.

"Castiel!" called Dean as he burst into the bathroom.

Cas was stood at the sink washing his hands. "Dean? How much have to had to drink?"

Dean stopped and reached out for the basin for support. "Dunno. Lost count... Cas!? Tha' girl with you! She... she liked you."

Castiel frowned. "She was intoxicated."

"Yes but she liked you, Cas. That's not right. Not right a'tall."

"I wasn't interested." Dean looked down at Castiel who was still frowning. He was sure to develop deep wrinkles on his forehead by the time he's thirty. Dean continued to stare into his eyes and stepped in closer to him. He placed a hand on the smaller man's chest and pushed him with quite some force into the stall behind him. "Dean? What the hell are you doing?" Cas nearly tripped over his own feet as Dean manhandled him into the cubicle then turned around to close the door behind them. "Dean? Seriously how much have you had to drink?"

"Dunno. Cas..." Dean leant in towards his friend who had now forgotten how to breathe. "I didn't like her." He was now millimeters from Castiel.

"Erm... Dean? What are you-" he couldn't finished his sentence because Dean had smashed their lips together. Castiel's eyes flew open in pure shock and his body felt as if it was made of stone. He couldn't move as Dean's hand slipped up his chest and to the back of his neck, pulling him into the kiss. Dean's fingers were threading themselves into Castiel's hair, gripping it tightly while his other hand maneuvered inside his trench coat and to the the small of his back, pressing their bodies together.

The moment Dean shifted his thigh to press in between his legs, Castiel's body remembered how to move. His hands snaked around the taller boys neck and drew him closer, his tongue pushed past his lips and tangled against Dean's. Their bodies rolled against each other and their hips bucked uncontrollably. Castiel held on for dear life as Dean grinded the evidence of his arousal against his hip. Both of them moaned into each other's mouths as every part of their bodies moved together in sync. Castiel's head was spinning and he felt as if his body was running on auto pilot. He didn't want to question what was happening because if he did, the rational part of his mind would take over and he'd feel the need to stop, so not allowing that to happen, he caught Dean's bottom lip inbetween his teeth and sucked gently. When Dean allowed his head to lull back, Castiel attacked his neck with his mouth, allowing his tongue to travel up and occasionally nipping at the skin underneath his jaw. He could feel the vibrations of Dean's moan against his lips which were now sucking at the base of the Winchester's neck.

Dean stepped back for a second to catch his breath before wrapping his hand around Cas' tie and yanking him forward, crushing their lips together once more. Still with his left hand tangled in his tie, Dean's other hand inched its way south to firmly cup Castiel's swollen crotch. Castiel moaned and felt his legs nearly buckle as Dean palmed his cock through his jeans.

Once again, Dean broke the kiss only to rest his head against Castiel's shoulder, breathing heavily. "Cas..."

Castiel stood staring at the far wall of the cubicle, his chest rising and falling quickly as he tried to wrap his head around what was happening. "Fuck."

"Cas? I dun'feel good."

Castiel froze as he realized what was about to happen. He sighed just before pushing Dean away, spinning him round and bending him over the toilet in time for him to vomit into the bowl. Dean's legs gave way and he fell to the floor, his hands gripping onto the toilet seat as he continued to empty his stomach. This continued for a few more minutes with Castiel comforting Dean by rubbing his hand across his back in circles. He took the time to evaluate what the fuck just happened.

Dean kissed him.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.

He was incredibly intoxicated. Did he mean it? Did it mean anything at all? Or was it just a spur of the moment thing brought on by that girl talking to Castiel? Will he remember anything or will the dubious amounts of alcohol wipe it from his memory like it never happened? If he does remember it, will things be weird between them?

They were all questions he would have to torture himself over later because at the moment, Dean was on the bathroom floor muttering something about wanting another drink.

"Come on, Dean. Let's get you home." Castiel hauled Dean off the floor and draped his arm across his shoulders in order to drag him out of the bathroom.

Once they got back into the bar, Cas noticed that things had died down. People had either gone home or found someone to hook up with. Jo was still sat at the bar with Ash who was talking to some girl about his hair. They didn't notice Castiel carry Dean away.

It took plenty of effort to get Dean to the car as he wasn't making it easy by demanding they go back and have another drink. But once he saw the Impala he pushed away from Cas. "I'll drive!" he shouted as he stumbled towards the driver's side.

"No. Give me your keys."

Dean turned around and used the car to support himself. He grinned widely at Cas. "You've gotta find'm first."

Castiel rolled his eyes and approached the swaying Winchester. He slid his hand into the back pocket of his jeans knowing full well the key's would be there but Dean smiled before catching Castiel's wrist while it was still in his pocket. He backed against the car so Castiel's hand would be trapped between the cool metal and Dean Winchester's ass.

"Dean. Please" begged Castiel. He could fell himself grow hot again and it took him too long to cool down before.

Dean furrowed his eyebrows as he came to he sudden realization that he was getting cold. He pushed away from the car and Castiel took the opportunity the clutch the car keys and pull his hand out of his back pocket. Dean, however, took the opportunity of Cas being distracted to push his trench coat off his shoulders. "Can I have your coat?" he grinned. Castiel complied and opened the backdoor of the car then pushed Dean inside while he was slipping his arms into the sleeves.

Once he was confident that Dean was happily in the car, Castiel threw open the driver's door and got in. Not many people knew he could drive and although he didn't own his own car, Castiel enjoyed driving. And he'd secretly always wanted to drive the Impala.

He checked the rearview mirror to see Dean sprawled across the back seat laying on his front, his limbs hanging onto the floor of the car. "Are you going to vomit again, Dean?"

After thinking about it, Dean shook his head and closed his eyes once the car engine began to purr.

They got about halfway to Dean's house when he began to stir on the backseat. "Cas? Castiel? Cassie?"

"What is it?" Castiel glanced behind him. Dean was now lying on his back, tangled in the trench coat.

"D'ya still like me? Like what Balthazar said ages ago?"

Castiel took a deep breath and thought that seeing as Dean probably wasn't going to remember it in the morning... "Yes. I do."

Dean smiled to himself. "Kay. Jus'wondering. I like you too. You have nice hair." He twisted about to lay on his front again but instead fell off the seat and onto the floor of the car. "Ow".

Once they pulled into the driveway of Dean's house, it was nearly two in the morning. Castiel had to admit that he'd never been out past eleven. Michael will probably kill him tomorrow morning but for now he had to concentrate on getting Dean safely home and pray that Lucifer had the sense to cover for him. Cas wasn't even sure where Gabriel was anymore, he just assumed he'd gone home with a girl.

"Come on. Out of the car." Castiel was holding the car door open for Dean was who having trouble scrambling out.

Once the drunk Winchester was finally out Castiel made him swear to be quiet as he tried to find the house key amongst the collection on Dean's keyring. Of course in his state, Dean wasn't very good at keeping his promises. "Are you going t'come home with me, Cas?" Dean had pressed himself up against Castiel's back which he didn't mind, at least he had a way of supporting him incase his legs gave out, but what he did mind was when Dean decided to press kisses to the back of his neck.

Castiel frowned in concentration, trying to ignore Dean's teeth grazing against his skin, as he finally found the key for the front door of the house, however he didn't get a chance to slide the key in the lock because Bobby beat him to it, swinging the front door open and staring up at the two boys on the front porch. Apparently Dean wasn't very good at keeping quiet.

"Do you two idjits have any idea what time it is?"

"Sorry, Mr Singer. I thought I should see Dean home, that's all. Apologies for waking you." Castiel reached behind him and pushed Dean away from his back.

"Cas, call me 'Mr Singer' one more time and you'll get a slap to the back of yer head. Now bring him inside before he wakes Sam up." He stepped aside to allow Castiel room to drag Dean in. "How much has he had?"

"I'm not too sure. I'm sorry. I'm sure he didn't mean to drink so much I-"

"He's not in trouble, Cas. And neither are you. D'ya know how many times he's come home worse off than this? I'm glad he's got you watchin' over him. Set him down on the sofa. He'll stay there, you can have his room tonight." And with that Bobby turned around to head back up to bed.

"Erm... I'm sorry but I should head home. Erm... I don't think Dean would want-"

"This isn't a negotiation. I'm not letting you go home at this hour. I apologize for whatever state his room's in."

Castiel smiled as he heard Bobby's bedroom door click. He liked it here. Things were relaxed and he didn't feel as if he had to tred on eggshells around Bobby. He looked down at Dean who was now passed out on the sofa, his limbs going off at all different angles and his face pressed into the cushions. Castiel's trench coat was still tangled around him, it's belt caught around his arm. Cas smiled again and sat on the arm of the sofa to watch Dean sleep peacefully. Part of him didn't want Dean to remember what had happened when he wakes up. He liked Dean. He liked his family and his friends. He liked walking to Bobby's autoshop on saturdays to go with Dean to the Roadhouse where he'd happily drink a diet coke and watch Dean smile while talking to Ellen. He liked this friendship he had and he was scared that if Dean remembered, he wouldn't want to be friends anymore, that he'd find it too awkward.

But a small part of him wanted so desperately for him to remember. He wanted him to remember what he had said to Cas. He prayed that if he did remember, there'd be a chance that he meant everything he said and did and that he'd want to do it again.

But Castiel knew his luck had run out when Dean wanted to be friends. And if that was all he was going to get, he was grateful.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

Dean woke up the next morning confused and disorientated. He wasn't in his bed and he was covered in Castiel's coat. There was a full glass of water on the floor next to his head and he reached for it and drank it quickly, making a mental note to thank whoever put it there. Once he finished he put the glass down again and noticed an empty bucket on the floor too. Whoever put him there made sure he needed everything and when he stood up too quickly, he needed the bucket. He reached for it just in time to fill it with vomit. He collapsed back on the sofa and kept the bucket under his chin. He felt like he was going to die. His head was pounding so hard his eyes were fuzzy.

"Good morning. How are you feeling?" Castiel sat beside him and handed him another large glass of water which he accepted gratefully.

"Fragile." Dean sipped on the water, making sure he still had the bucket close by, he wasn't finished with it yet. "Why did you let me drink so much?"

"You don't think I tried to stop you?"

Dean simply moaned in response and let himself fall on to his side, away from Cas. He closed his eyes and tried to remember what the hell had happened. He could guess there was plenty of alcohol, whiskey guessing from the stale taste in his mouth, and he knew that somehow he'd gotten home. "Cas?"

Castiel froze as he looked at Dean expecting him to have remember what he did.

"Did you drive my car?"

Cas released the breath he didn't know he was holding. "Erm... yes. You were in no state to drive."

"You do realize that if you were anyone else you'd be dead by now, don't you?"

"I do. Yes." Castiel smiled. It seemed as if Dean didn't remember. And he was going to consider that a good thing. "Dean, can I have my coat? I should go home before Michael threatens to call out a search party." Dean groaned and flapped his arms out of the sleeves while still laying on his side leaving Castiel to yank it out underneath him. "Thank you. I'll see you at school tomorrow."

Dean threw an arm up as a goodbye wave and let it flop back down once Castiel had left. He screwed his eyes closed and tried to drift back off to sleep. He was happy assuming that last night was fun. If it was a party thrown by Jo it had to be.

He woke up two hours later desperate for a piss. He swung his legs off the sofa and pushed himself off with more effort than needed and headed upstairs.

He bumped into Sam who had just left the bathroom as Dean tried to get in. "Hey, Dean. How was last night?"

Dean nodded sleepily. "Good. Now if you could get out of the way please."

"You'd you hook up with?"

"What?"

"Your neck, dude. Was she pretty?"

"Oh, Sammy. There's so much more to a girl being pretty. She's gotta be easy too" winked Dean. "And I don't know. I don't remember." He pushed past his brother and into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

After he finally emptied his bladder he walked up to the mirror to inspect his neck.

Fuck. He had a massive hickey bruised onto the base of his neck. It would be easy enough to hide if he wore shirts with collars for a few days. He turned on the tap and splashed his face with water, trying to remember who he hooked up with.

It was fuzzy but he could remember pushing them into the stall of the guys bathroom. He could remember having them up against he wall as they kissed him back. He could remember running his hand through their short, messy hair. And he could remember them grinding into the palm of his hand.

He froze as his eyes grew wide. He was with a guy.

He turned the tap off and stood up straight, water still dripping from his face as a wave of realization hit him. He was with Castiel.

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." He walked around in circles for a while, his hands clutching his hair as if he was trying to pull the memories from his head. "Holy fuck. I told him I liked him. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck."

Dean sat down on the edge of the bathtub, his elbows resting on his knees as he allowed his hands to engulf his face. He knew that Castiel was different to his other friends and he knew that he was finding it harder and harder not to think about him recently. And he liked him. "Fuck, I like Cas."

He didn't know what he was going to do. He'd never liked anyone before. He had a crush on Jo when they were twelve but that was about as far as it went. He didn't know what he was going to do.

He could carry on and pretend things were normal. Pretend he hadn't remembered. Cas wasn't acting weird this morning was he? No he was fine. Maybe he didn't remember. Although this was Cas. And Cas liked Dean. Dean knew that. He knew it for ages and it didn't bother him, it didn't get in the way of their friendship so maybe this wont get in the way either? Of course it was. It was different this time. They _both_ liked each other.

Why didn't Dean realize this earlier? He didn't know he liked Cas until now. Did anyone else know? Was it one of those things where it was obvious to your friends but it wasn't to you?

But that wasn't the only issue. There was something, a problem, blinking brightly in Dean's face. Castiel was a guy. Dean didn't like guys. Everyone knew he was the biggest ladies man there was. He couldn't go thirty seconds without thinking about a woman. Although now that this realization had presented itself, Dean remembered how recently it had been Cas. He couldn't go thirty seconds without thinking about _Cas_.

What was he going to do? He could just not say anything. Maybe wait until Castiel confronts him about it. That sounded like a good plan. Chances are he wouldn't discuss it, he's uncomfortable with social interaction as it is, throw in some deep, personal, feelings and he might never talk about it.

But that wasn't fair. To either of them. Dean liked Cas and Cas liked Dean. Wouldn't it make sense for them to talk about it? To explore what the hell was happening between them? Cas would probably take it well, based on the memories of the kiss, he's bound to reciprocate positively.

Dean took a deep breath and stood up. He decided the best thing to do was just go to school tomorrow, see Cas and just wait and see what happens. It was the best solution he could come up with.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

Castiel thought it unusual that he hadn't seen Dean all day. He knew he wasn't home sick because he saw him in English class. He also thought it strange that Dean hadn't sat with him. He was at the back of the class whereas Cas was near the front. Dean usually sat with him.

What Castiel didn't know was that Dean was a coward. He tried to approach him that morning but his legs turned to jelly and he chickened out, turning away and fleeing. It was ridiculous. Castiel was his best friend and he left him because he was too damn scared to admit how he felt. He was too scared Castiel would reject him which Dean knew he wouldn't. But the fact Dean had never felt like this about anyone before had him running.

Dean felt awful when he didn't sit with Cas during class. He watched him the entire time. He looked lonely and it was killing Dean. But he couldn't get the balls to talk to him. To tell him that he remembered what happened and that it was good and that he meant it.

So he continued to avoid Cas. For the rest of the day. For the whole of lunch, Dean sat outside behind the music building because the thought of eating with Cas, watching him smile as Jo teases him, watching his puzzled expression as Ash attempted to explain technology to him was all too much. It made his heart beat in his chest and it made him fell hot. He was turning into such a girl.

Dean continued to avoid Castiel the next day too. He saw him briefly when he was talking to Sam about college. Cas smiled at him, worry spread across his face which deepened when Dean walked off without saying goodbye.

People were beginning to notice. When Dean and his group of friends welcomed Cas and when they became close, students began to talk. Some saying how it was nice Castiel finally had a friend, some suspicious that Dean was gay since he was best friends with the gay guy and others (namely Alistair, Gordon and Crowley) pissed off because they couldn't get to Cas anymore. But now they obviously had some sort of spat, people were talking again.

It was Wednesday. Three days since Dean had spoken to Castiel and understandably, Cas had fallen into a state close to depression. It seemed as if he'd lost his best friend and he could only guess why. He assumed Dean had remembered what happened on Saturday and was repulsed by it, not wanting to continue their friendship. The thought that Castiel had something so good and it was now taken away from him brought him close to tears. He loved Dean. Not quite in every sense of the word because he refused to let himself fall actually in love knowing Dean would never love him back.

Castiel was at his locker, collecting the books he'd need for after lunch. He didn't plan to go to the cafeteria. When Dean wasn't there, Jo, Pam, Ash, Adam and Lisa had no reason to sit with him. Although they still did, he could feel they wanted to be elsewhere. Jo was perhaps the only one not to give him that impression and Gabriel didn't care where he was. So Castiel decided to go back to the empty classroom he would frequent at the beginning of the year.

Only he didn't get that far without getting stopped.

"Hey, pretty boy. Where's your boyfriend?" Gordon called from down the hall. Crowley hot on his heels.

"You beat me up so often for being gay, however you just called me pretty. I think you're confused, Gordon." Castiel tried to continue walking although he knew they wouldn't give up. Not without Dean being there.

"Shut your filthy mouth." Gordon placed a hand on Castiel's shoulder and turned him around so they were facing each other. Castiel took a breath as he saw Gordon's fist on course to collide with his face. The ring Gordon wore on his right hand cut into Castiel's cheek, instantly causing blood to trickle down his face. "Not so big without the boyfriend now are we?"

"When you say 'we' are you referring to yourself and when you say 'boyfriend' are you referring to Alistair?" Castiel knew answering back would only deserve him another blow to the face but the look on Gordon's face was worth it.

And of course Gordon punched him again, in the same place so the cut on his face had now become wider.

"Hey!" Castiel and Gordon turned to face down the hall where Jo was marching towards them. Gordon stepped away from Castiel and fled, taking Crowley with him leaving Cas inspecting the damage to his face.

"Castiel! Are you alright?" Jo was now running to him.

"I'm alright." He leant down and picked up his bag which he swung over his shoulder then turned to get back on course to the classroom he knew would be empty.

"Cas! Where are you going?" Jo jogged to keep up with him, angling herself so she could look at his cheek which was now turning purple. "What's going on with you and Dean?"

"I'm sorry. I don't know." He was doing everything in his power to stop his tears from spilling over and down his face. He didn't do a very good job because now he was crying.

"What happened? Hey! Stop!" Jo grabbed on to his shoulder, making him jump, to stop him. "Tell me, Cas."

"I. Don't. Know. Why don't you ask him."

"Please. He's in the cafeteria. Come with me and talk to him."

"And what? Have him just... just... walk off. Without talking to me!? I - I've called him but he doesn't answer. H- h- he doesn't want to see me so why should I bother?" He was full-on crying now. His voice hitched as he talked. He didn't know how to fix things. He'd never had anything like this before. He'd never had a friend before so he'd obtained no knowledge on how to keep them. He was completely helpless.

Jo didn't answer him. Instead she whipped around and headed for the direction of the cafeteria. No doubt going to talk to Dean. Castiel continued walking to the classroom, using his sleeve to wipe his face from tears and blood.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

"Dean Winchester, you complete and utter dick!"

Dean early jumped out of his seat when Jo slammed her hands on the table. "What?"

"What the fuck is going on between you and Castiel?"

Dean's face sunk before looking away from her, directing his eyes to his lunch which he had barely touched. "t's nothing, Jo. Please leave it."

Jo sat down and lowered her voice. "He's _crying_, Dean. He's not okay. What did he do?"

"He didn't do anything."

"Dean. Tell me or I swear to god-"

"It was _me. _It's all me and I don't know what I'm meant to do" his voice started to waver as if he was about to breakdown. He took a deep breath. "I don't know what to do."

Able to tell Dean needed someone to confide in but wanting not to talk about it at the same time, Jo leant in to him so no one could overhear. "What did you do?"

"I... I kissed him. I was drunk but I meant it and I'm too scared to talk to him about it. I don't know what to do" he didn't look up at Jo.

"Man up and talk to him. What do you think he's going to do?"

"It's not that! I'm a pussy. I'm a lowlife, selfish dick and I can't gather the fucking balls to talk to my best friend! So I've avoided him. I haven't spoken to him in days and it's _fucking_ killing me!" His voice became raised as his anger at himself flooded him.

"It's killing _you_?" Jo also raised her voice. She knew that the only way to get Dean to do something was to shout at him. It's what his Dad did before he died and it's the only method she knew. She she shouted. She made him feel so angry that the adrenaline would make him move and walk to room 214 where Cas was currently sat, possibly still in tears. "What about Castiel? Do you know what just fucking happened because you weren't there for him!? Because you were too damn busy feeling sorry for your pretty self?"

Dean looked up at her, his eyebrows knotting together. "What are you talking about?"

"Gordon just attacked him because he knew you weren't there to stop him. Castiel is sat alone, upset and bloody because you can't grow a pair of balls to talk about your feelings. I've known you all my life and I've never seen you with anyone like you are with him. So what, it's scary as hell? He's not going to turn you away. Stop being a pussy and go talk to him."

"No you don't understand. Have you not noticed that he's a _guy_? Why aren't we discussing the fact that I really... _really_ like a guy?"

"Because it doesn't matter. Now go before I punch you so hard-"

"Fine!" shouted Dean as he stood up. Half the cafeteria was staring at them. He stormed out and down the hall. He was grateful for Jo, he really was. She knew him. She knew how to get to him and she knew just what to say. In all honesty, he was waiting for her to shout at him and make him talk to Cas. He was waiting for an excuse and Jo had given him one.

He was stood outside room 214 knowing Cas would be in there. He took a deep breath as he knocked on the door and walked inside.

Castiel was sat at a table with his head in his arms, his coat wrapped tightly around him. He didn't say a word as Dean sat down opposite him.

They sat in silence for two minutes before Castiel spoke. "Did Jo send you?"

"Yes."

"Do you want to be here?"

"Yes."

"Why have you been avoiding me?" Castiel's voice was muffled where he had this head resting amongst his arms.

"I'm sorry, Cas. I'm so sorry." He wasn't sure what else he should say. He wasn't good when it came to talking about feelings. The line 'Hey, no chickflick moments' was one his brother has heard many times. "Can you look at me?" It took Castiel a few seconds to gather the energy to sit up straight and face Dean. Dean's heart sank when he saw how his left cheek was swollen and cut. Castiel obviously hadn't cleaned it because there was dried blood spotted across his face. Castiel's expression was flat and helpless. He had been crying for quite some time, his usually brilliantly blue eyes where bloodshot and dark. "I... I'm sorry. I don't know what to say. I'm just sorry."

"It's alright, Dean. You don't have to say anything. I never had a friend before you, I'm used to being alone. You shouldn't feel guilty, I'll be alright. You can leave now. I forgive you." Castiel had given up, his voice was toneless and flat.

"What do you think this is? Do you think I'm going to leave you?"

"Yes."

Dean couldn't help but smile. "What have you done to me, Cas?"

"I don't understand." Castiel tilted his head to the side, trying to figure out the situation, trying to figure out why Dean was still here.

"I'm not going to leave you. I'm not good at this, alright? I know that I've fucked you over these past few days but believe me when I say it's not your fault. I'm really _really_ not good at this. If there are ever any signs that I might need to talk about feelings and shit, I avoid it like the plague. I..." Dean knotted his eyebrows together, deep in thought about what he needed to say. "I remember what happened on Saturday, alright? I know what I said and... and what I did. What _we _did."

Dean looked at Castiel for some sort of reaction. He didn't know how talks like this went so he relied on Cas being able to help him along. "Yes. I figured that. You regret it so you don't want to be my friend anymore. It's understandable. I apologize if I made you feel uncomfortable."

"No. That's not what's happening here. I meant what I did and what I said. And you know what? That scares the shit out of me. I'm alright to admit that now. I've been avoiding you because I'm too damn scared of what's happening." Castiel tilted his head to the other side now, making Dean smile. "I've never actually liked someone before and the fact that the... the first person is you is... scary." He couldn't think of a better word. "Do you understand what I'm getting at or am I talking to a brick wall here? Help me out, Cas."

"You... you like me?"

"Yes."

"And... you still want to be my friend?"

Dean chuckled. "Yes, Cas. I still want to be your friend."

Castiel smiled. "Thank you."

Dean laughed again. "You're just as bad at this as I am aren't you?"

Castiel pressed his lips together in thought and nodded. Of course he was. Before Dean he'd never had a friend. These past few months Castiel has had to learn so much about social norms, he never thought to learn about what to do when someone likes you. He never anticipated this, especially coming from Dean.

"That actually makes me feel better." Dean stood up and looked down at his friend. He wanted to kiss him but he wasn't sure if he should. He thought it may be best to let things continue as normal and see if anything naturally happens. Like he said, he'd never done this before. The longest he'd ever been with a girl was less than 48 hours and none of what he knew about that applied here. Not only because Cas wasn't a girl but because he deserved so much more than a 'less-than-forty-eight-hour relationship'. So he decided to do the next best thing he could do to show Cas not only he was sorry for abandoning him, but to show that he also cared about him in the way he knew how. He pressed his forehead against the top of Castiel's fluffy head for a few seconds, closing his eyes, before heading for the door.

"Dean, where are you going?" Castiel stood up in panic.

"I'm going to find Gordon and beat the shit out of him" said Dean, a little too cheerily, before he opened the door and walked out.


	4. Chapter 4

Dean sighed and threw his bag on his back. It was nearly six. Detention went on for longer than expected. He smiled when he remembered why he was there in the first place.

After he spoke to Castiel and managed to straighten things out with him, he vowed to beat Gordon to the ground for what he did to him. Castiel had ran out the room shouting after Dean saying how it would only make things worse and begging him not to do it. But despite the smug grin he had plastered across his face, Dean was furious, not only with Gordon but with himself. He was angry for letting Gordon even get the chance to get close to Cas. It was his fault for being such a frightened little girl and avoiding Cas and he wanted to take it out on Gordon's face.

When Dean had finally found him on the school field, Castiel was clutching onto Dean's sleeve, trying to pull him back but Dean was on a mission and there was no way in hell Gordon was going to get away with what he did. Eventually Cas hid behind the bleachers, too scared to face the boy with Dean but too curious to go back inside so he watched the Winchester boy confront the bully by initially shouting.

"Hey, Walker!" Cas could see the anger radiating from Dean.

"Winchester. And to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I think you know, you lowlife piece of shit." Without letting Gordon say another word, Dean had already drawn his fist back and thrown it into the pit of Gordon's stomach making him curl over, clutching his abdomen. Before he had a chance to catch his breath, Dean had hooked his fist up aiming for Gordon's face causing him to fall backwards with both surprise and momentum.

Satisfied, Dean smiled and turned away to make his way back to Castiel. It was quick, but it was pleasing. He could hear Gordon shouting behind him. "This isn't over, Winchester! You and your little boyfriend are fucking dead!". This only caused Dean to smile more, the pain was audible in Gordon's voice and he could be heard coughing while still on the floor.

Castiel wasn't happy. He wasn't one for violence and knew that it would only make Gordon mad but a part of him was pleased that for once, it wasn't him getting punched in the face.

Unfortunately for Dean, Coach Turner had been on the field at the time and saw the entire thing, giving him three detentions after school during the week.

One of which he had just completed.

Once Dean got to his car he phoned Sam to see that he was alright at his friend Brady's house and to double check he was picking him up at 9. With a few hours to spare, Dean got in his car and drove to Castiel's house.

He was surprised to find a bright white Prius parked on the driveway of the house but he just shrugged and put it down to the fact Michael may have finally traded in his old truck for a brand new, far too shiny, car. Even if it was a piece of shit like a Prius.

Dean knocked loudly on the front door and waited for a few seconds, only to be greeted by a large, grumpy looking man he'd never seen before. The new man stared down at Dean like he was a stray cat who'd found it's way on his front porch. He wore a pristine black suit and the way he stood made him seem like the most important man in the world. Dean had figured that the strange car in front of the house belonged to this stranger. His dark eyes bore into Dean as if he was trying to stare into his soul, his dark hair and skin contrasting against the crisp white of his collar to bring a sort of ominous about him. Within a sixth of a second, Dean decided he didn't like this stranger stood in Castiel's doorway.

"Hi. Is Cas in?" He tried to stand as straight as possible and while he was taller than the stranger, his presence was minuscule and weak.

"Dean?" Cas hovered behind the man and looked past him to where Dean was stood. "It's okay, uncle Uriel, Dean's a friend." He attempted to squeeze past him but uncle Uriel refused to move.

"You shall have to turn your friend away. You have school work to be getting to." The man's voice was deep and frightened Dean in a way he couldn't describe. Cas' voice was deep but in a way that made Dean's legs weak. The stranger's voice made Dean want to run and never come back.

"He's err... he's here to do schoolwork. I help tutor him a few times a week. Right, Dean?" Cas looked at Dean, begging for help. Castiel was the worst liar in the world and he obviously needed Dean to take over.

"Yeah. That's right. I'm real bad at... math." Castiel cringed. If they were going to lie about doing schoolwork, lying about math was the biggest mistake. If Uriel wanted to see evidence of their work, he'd know they'd been lying seeing as Castiel himself was only a grade average B. "He came to my house yesterday so today I've come here."

Uriel looked between both boys for a few minutes. If he could tell they were lying, he wasn't letting them know. Chances are he believed them because he stepped aside and let Dean through.

Both boys ran upstairs, talking about equations and textbooks until they reached Castiel's room and out of the hearing range of Uriel.

"Who the fuck is he?" said Dean, perhaps a little too loudly after slamming the door shut.

Castiel opened the door again and left it half open. Since Uriel came to the house a new rule was placed that every bedroom door must be open. Cas guessed it was incase anyone was doing anything 'unholy'. "I'm sorry, Dean. That's my uncle Uriel. He's come to stay with us and he's arrived much earlier than we thought. I'm sorry I didn't get to warn you."

Dean stepped further into the room and collapsed onto the bed with his head on the pillow, fiddling with a water bottle which was on the table next to the bed. "Dude, I don't know how to tell you this, but you're uncle's adopted."

Castiel flopped into the chair by the desk and watched Dean search through his possessions on his bedside table. "He's not related by blood. We just call him uncle. He married into the family many years a go."

"Why is he here?"

"Since my parent's died my siblings and I had a close eye kept on us all the time. Although once Balthazar took us in we were pretty much left to our own devices. But now that Michael's taken over as the main guardian, Uriel feels he should make sure we're kept on the correct path." Cas looked behind him at his desk and picked up one of his math textbooks which he then threw on the bed next to Dean. If they were going to pretend to study, they had to have props. "Uriel's incredibly religious. He's hellbent on purging the world of it's sins and it's our turn to be converted and have our souls saved from hell."

"I thought Michael was one of the douche-y religious types?"

"He is but no where near as bad as Uriel. Michael's just stopped trying with us. He knows we're not killing people so he's as happy as he can be. Uriel's the level of religious that he'd physically force us to church, condemn us if we had premarital sex, or beat us if he found any of us intoxicated."

"I can't imagine he likes you very much. What with you being into guys." Dean was now flicking through the math textbook and staring at it in disgust.

"If he found out, I'd be out of a home." Castiel frowned as he watched Dean fidget. "Can I ask you to... not come round here while Uriel is. Not only is your personality everything uncle Uriel despises but I can't have you... get me in trouble."

Dean looked somewhat offended. "What about my personality?"

Castiel rolled his eyes and brought his hands out in front of him so he could count on his fingers. "You drink, you cuss, you listen to heavy rock, you have premarital sex with various amounts of women and you only know how to use your laptop to find pornography. I would go on but I'll run out of fingers to count on."

Dean frowned and turned his gaze away from Cas in a strop. "I'm not that bad."

"No. You're not but Uriel wont see it like that. He'll either kick you out of the house or turn you into his new project and trust me when I say that that's so much worse. If we can behave, Uriel will leave sooner and we can still be friends..."

Dean smiled. "Are you sure you still want to be my friend after what I did to you? I'm a dick."

Castiel returned Dean's smile. "Yes. You're a dick but you're my friend still."

"Alright." Dean continued to smiled to himself and stared at the ceiling. He then realised what Castiel had said a few minutes ago. "Do you think I'm going to get you in trouble?"

"What?"

"You asked me not to hang around while your dick of an uncle is here because I'll get you in trouble."

"Well you're not exactly one to behave and you do tend to bring me down with you."

"Name one time I got you in trouble."

"Two weeks ago you got me thrown out of that diner because you were trying too hard with the waitress."

"Name another."

"Several weeks ago at the Roadhouse you nearly got the both of us in a fight because you were hustling pool."

"You make me seem like I'm some sort of menace."

Castiel grinned. "How was detention?"

"That's irrelevant. And it was painful. How's your face?"

Castiel brought his hand up to his cheek where Gordon had made a deep cut using his ring earlier. "Painful."

Both boys sat in silence for a few minutes after that. Dean continued to play with whatever he could reach while Castiel watched him, spinning from side to side on his chair. Castiel liked this. He liked how completely comfortable he and Dean could be in absolute silence. He liked how Dean was happy to go through his things and study them before becoming bored and placing it back where he found it. It was little things like that that made Castiel happy. He seemed to notice little things that Dean did and they always made him smile. For example whenever Dean drove, he'd sometimes poke his tongue out to the side whenever turning sharp corners. When he got nervous he'd pull his sleeves over his hands and stare at his feet. Whenever he made microwave food, he'd imitate the 'ping' once his food was ready without realising he did so.

And as Castiel sat and watched Dean turn the minute hand of his alarm clock he came to understand that he truly loved his friend. He had no idea what kind of love he possessed but he was happy knowing Dean was his best friend and he was Dean's and it only took a couple of months for them to become so close.

"Hey, Cas? If I promise not to be such a dick can I not avoid coming round while Darth Vader's here?"

"I'm not sure you're capable of that."

"I'll promise to be on my best behavior. I'll even bring books so we can pretend to study."

Cas looked to Dean and involuntarily thought about all the things they could do other than study. He thought about how they could come upstairs with their books and never open them, they'd be too preoccupied with each other. Castiel closed his eyes and for a split second thought about being spread out below Dean, ever in the fear that Uriel would catch them doing the thing that the man despised the most. He imagined how they'd have to be silent, the moment a moan would escape them, they'd be found but that would make it all the more fun. They could attempt to tease noises from each other and it would turn torturous as time went by.

Castiel inhaled deeply and willed for his now painfully hard erection to go away. Because Dean showed no desire for them to be in that position. Granted, he'd earlier admitted that he liked him but Castiel could take that in multiple ways, it didn't necessarily mean Dean _wanted _him. Not in the way Cas wanted so desperately. Castiel was inexperienced with the boundaries of friendship, with still being new to the concept, and although he knew it was a good thing that Dean liked him, he didn't know what it meant. And although normal people would be shouting 'But he made out with you fiercely in the bathroom of the Roadhouse _of course_ he wants you', Castiel made himself believe that didn't encounter for anything, Dean was drunk at the time after all.

"So?" asked Dean who had noticed Castiel's silence.

"What?"

"I'm still allowed round even if 'Doctor Doom's' here, right?"

"Who's 'Doctor Doom'?"

"You're an idiot." Dean proceeded to stand up off the bed without bothering to straighten out the sheets, knowing how it would annoy Castiel. "Anyway, I'm off before Sammy thinks I've left him for dead at his friend's house. See ya tomorrow and then it's Saturday!" Dean punched the air in a sort of mini-celebration. "He hasn't got you under house arrest has he? I mean he's not going to keep you locked in the house like Rapunzel right? You said he was bad but he can't be that bad?"

"Who's Rapunzel?"

Dean rolled his eyes in his usual you've-got-to-be-kidding-me sort of way. "Whatever. See you tomorrow, Cas."

Dean left the room and Castiel heard the familiar shout of "See ya later, Novaks" coming from downstairs followed by Gabriel screaming "Take me with you!"

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

As it turned out, Uriel could be _that_ bad. After Dean left he came to talk to Castiel saying how Dean seemed like a troublemaker and he didn't want him in the house again. It turned out Uriel had heard the tales of how Dean and Gabriel would get into trouble and often end up bringing it home. He stated that Castiel was youngest of the family and because of that Uriel felt the need to keep him in line the most, the rest of the family were grown and stubborn in their ways and even though it didn't stop Uriel from restraining them while he's there, he was aware that once he left they'd turn back to sin. Uriel believed that Castiel had the best chance at living a life with God. Of course he didn't know Castiel was gay and therefore condemned by the church.

So when Saturday rolled around, Castiel and Dean's usual plans of going to the Roadhouse/Dean's place were shattered what with Uriel demanding he meet this 'friend' Castiel was going to meet, completely oblivious to the fact that his friend was Dean and they were going to a bar. Castiel had lied (quite well too) and told him he was going to Chuck's house to watch a harmless movie and even that wasn't good enough.

The entire family were made to go to church on Sunday morning. Gabriel, Anna and Lucifer had forgotten what 9am on a Sunday morning looked like and Castiel was pissed because he couldn't go to Dean's house for lunch with Sam and Bobby like he always did. Michael, of course with it being his usual routine, didn't mind and it seemed that Balthazar had flown the nest and wasn't returning until Uriel left.

So Castiel had to sit for 90 minutes while a priest taught them the roads that will send them to hell and when he took a minute to discuss the sinful horrors that was homosexuality, Gabriel had to reassuringly place a hand on Castiel's knee who looked as if he was either about to punch either the priest or Uriel.

The weekend dragged by painfully slow. Tv was out bounds unless it was the God channel (Castiel didn't even know that existed) and any book Castiel tried to read to pass the time was scrutinized by Uriel and eventually placed in a trunk along with Gabriel's porn magazines, Anna's laptop and anything else Uriel felt fit to discard. Naturally the entire family, including Michael, were becoming more and more pissed off as time went by and the urge to move out became more tempting. The only reason they were putting up with Uriel was that he wasn't going to be there for long, there's only so much he can do before he's pleased with his work. So the Novak siblings clenched their teeth and carried on.

Castiel had never been so pleased to go to school before. It's the only place he could escape Uriel and see Dean.

It wasn't hard to guess that Dean wasn't happy. Castiel was his best friend and he was far from pleased that a strange dark man was dictating his and his family's life. He didn't get to see him for the entire weekend. And he wont get to see him for many more weekends to come.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

It was getting near to the Christmas break and Dean was worried about how much time he'd get to spend with his friend once school was out.

"Seriously, Cas. Sneaking out _isn't _that difficult. I used to do it all the time!"

Castiel, Dean and Gabriel were meandering down the halls to their next class. They had plenty of time before class started so they didn't rush.

"Dean, I'm not going to sneak out. Can you imagine what Uriel would do if he found out?"

"He wont" stated Gabriel. "I've done it twelve times since he moved in and he hasn't noticed."

"Gabriel!"

"What? Desperate times, little brother."

"He's right." Dean draped an arm around Castiel's shoulder. "If you don't, Uriel will keep you locked up in your tower for the entire winter break. You don't want that do you, princess?"

Castiel furrowed his eyebrows together. "You keep making princess references and I don't understand why."

Dean looked from Castiel to Gabriel and then back to Cas. "Disney films, man!"

"Really? Disney?" smirked Gabriel.

"They're classic. Shut up."

All three boys continued down the hall. Dean frowned a little. He didn't know what he'd do if he couldn't see Cas for the whole of Christmas. It had only been a few months since they really became friends and already his heart sunk when he thought of spending time apart.

They hadn't really talked about their situation, or if there was even a situation to talk about. Dean wasn't sure at first what he even meant when he admitted he liked Cas, it became obvious over time that he _wanted _Cas in ways he shouldn't want another guy. And that's what Dean put it down to when he thought about why they hadn't spoken about it or pursued it any further. Both boys were terrified about what would happen if they did.

Dean didn't want to be labeled gay. He's not gay. He just wants Castiel.

When they reached the classroom, Dean's phone started vibrating in his pocket. He told his friends he was going to take the call and gave his bag to Castiel so he could place it on the seat next to him to save his spot. Castiel took it and after a few seconds of what could not be called anything else other than eye-fucking, he smiled and went into class.

Dean answered the call. "Hello?"

"_Is this Dean Winchester?"_

"Yes… who's this?"

"_It is my understanding that you're the next of kin for Robert Singer, correct?"_

"… Yeah that's right. What's going on?"

"_Mr Winchester, my name's Doctor Matthews, I'm calling from Lawrence General Hospital. Mr Singer was in an accident and was shot this morning."_

"What!?" Dean shouted down the phone. His legs felt unstable and he pressed his arm against the wall to support his weight. "Is he alright? What happened? He's okay isn't he?"

"_I'll need you and your brother to come to Lawrence General right away."_

"Is. He. Okay!?" His voice was loud enough to cause a stir in the surrounding classrooms.

"_He seems stable for the minute but it's difficult to say. I'd rather discuss this with you in person."_

Dean hung up the phone in disgust. He was angry at the doctor for phoning. Even though there was no other way of contacting him, Dean was angry. He was angry that he wasn't there already. He was angry that he wasn't with Bobby when it happened. He was angry that he didn't know any more information.

His entire body froze and he stared at the floor, unable to move. He'd have to find Sam and tell him. He'd have to drive to the hospital and see Bobby. He couldn't muster the courage to move. He didn't want to accept something had happened to the man who was practically this second father. He just couldn't.

He finally got his feet to move and he slowly walked into the class and found his seat, all of which he did on auto pilot.

Castiel had noticed something was wrong from the moment he saw Dean. "What has happened?"

Eyes fixed on the edge of his desk, Dean simply mumbled. "It's Bobby. Hospital. I have to go."

"Dean?" Castiel looked at his friend who didn't seem to have any desire to move. Cas rolled his eyes. Family was the most important thing to Dean and it was understandable he'd act like he was. He had a tendency to shut down and shut away any emotion he didn't want. It was one of the reasons he was so difficult to be close with.

Castiel stood up and threw both his and Dean's bags over his shoulder. He nudged Dean until the boy looked up at him with shiny green eyes, obviously on the brink of tears. "Come on, let's get Sam."

Dean frowned as Castiel left the classroom. He had no choice but to follow. "Cas!" He shouted after him. Castiel turned around and motioned for him to hurry up. "Cas, what are you doing, I can't do this."

"Shut up, Dean. Of course you can." Castiel knew that once he got Dean there, he'd fight the entire hospital to save Bobby, it was just the matter of getting him past the wall of denial. Cas held out Dean's bag for him to take, which he did after a few seconds.

Dean was frightened. He didn't want to admit he could lose one of the most important people in his life so logic told him that if he pretended it wasn't happening, it wouldn't. Like he was in a horrible nightmare and all he had to do was wait it out and soon he'd wake up and have Bobby safe. He knew Castiel was right and that he _had_ to go to the hospital but he was scared. Too scared.

Once they arrived outside Sam's classroom, Castiel had to try to forcibly push Dean into the room and when he succeeded, Dean froze once again only this time he had all of Sam's classmates staring back at him.

"Dean? What's wrong?" asked Sam from his seat.

Castiel rolled his eyes and Dean pushed past him angrily, back into the corridor. The six stages of grief didn't apply to Dean like they did to everyone. He only ever had two, Denial and Anger and if those didn't work, he'd continue to shout at people until it did. Cas stepped into the classroom. "Sorry to disturb you, we need Sam. It's about his uncle."

Sam looked at Castiel wide-eyed and collected his things, hurrying to the door. "Cas? What's going on?" Sam looked past his brother's best friend to where his brother was running his hands through his hair while kicking in a locker.

"Bobby's been in an accident. I don't know what happened, Dean wont tell me, but I'm going to get you both to the hospital. Dean isn't of any use at the moment."

"Oh god." Sam remembered when their father died and how it effected Dean. Sam wasn't too close to his dad and although he didn't take it well, Dean was a mess. Sam didn't want a repeat performance. "Let's go."

After what felt like a twenty minute argument, Dean finally agreed he was not fit to drive so he gave his keys to Castiel with a final threat that he better not hurt his baby.

It seemed as if Dean was getting better the closer they got to seeing Bobby. He'd stopped shouting at Cas for his driving and instead starting reassuringly holding Sam's hand. Once they pulled up to the hospital, Castiel told the Winchester's he'd park while they find Bobby and that he'd catch up with them later. After quick thanks, Sam and Dean ran into the building.

It took Cas fifteen minutes to find a parking space and find a corridor near where Bobby was so he could wait for Sam and Dean. He waited outside patiently for nearly three hours. He had texted Gabriel outlining the situation and asking him to cover for him if he's home late. Gabriel replied letting him know he'll play the 'good samaritan' card, that way Uriel can't be too pissed.

Sam and Dean had been inside Bobby's room for what felt like an eternity and when they finally emerged, Dean sat beside Castiel without saying a word.

Cas looked up at Sam who nodded and smiled. "He'll be alright. He hasn't woken up yet but he will eventually. Although it's hard to tell if he'll walk again; the bullet struck his spinal chord."

Castiel nodded in understanding. "That's good, right?" He looked from Sam to Dean and then back at Sam.

"Yeah. He's not dead so… Dean? Coffee?"

Dean mumbled a yes. He had his head in his hands with his elbows resting on his knees. Sam walked away to hunt down some decent coffee for his brother, leaving Dean and Castiel alone.

"How are you doing?"

Dean exhaled and sat up. He looked drained, he'd obviously been crying at some point and he looked as if he hadn't slept in years despite the fact he'd gotten a decent sleep last night. "Fine." He turned to face Castiel who was trying to smile. It was evidential that he was worried. Dean knew that Cas considered the Winchesters and Bobby to be a second family of sorts. "How are you?"

"I'm good. Dean, if you need anything-"

"I'll be alright, Cas. Thank you, by the way."

Castiel shrugged. "You weren't handling the situation very well, so…"

Dean forced a smile. "Do you think you could escape you're evil uncle for tonight? Just enough time for a movie or something? Obviously Bobby wont be home tonight and Sammy likes it when you're around."

Castiel thought about it. If Gabriel was really covering him like he promised, he could spare a few hours. Dean needed him. It was only right.

By the time they got back to their house, Sam and Dean were emotionally exhausted. The relief that Bobby would live helped but the stress of the day had taken it's toll. Sam excused himself and went to his room as soon as they walked in the door.

"He'll be alright, Dean" said Castiel as he passed a beer to Dean from the fridge, Cas opted for a diet coke.

"I know." Dean released a shaky breath and sat on the edge of the sofa with his elbows on his knees and legs apart. "I was so scared today, Cas. What would I have done if we lost Bobby? I remember how hard it was when dad died and he was a dick. Can you imagine what it would be like if he lost Bobby too?."

Castiel strode across the kitchen and living room to sit on the floor in front of Dean. "He's okay though. You wont lose him." He placed a hand on Dean's knee and squeezed gently.

Dean nodded and brought his hands up to his face. A small chuckle made its way out of Dean's body and he smiled weakly. "What would I do without you, Cas?"

Castiel smiled sweetly and tipped his head to one side. "You would manage."

"Probably" joked Dean. He let his head fall and had to resort to breathing deeply and exhaling with shaky breaths.

Castiel scooted towards him on his knees and wrapped his arms around his friend who responded by burying his face in Castiel's neck, his arms snaking around his back and hugging him tightly.

Castiel understood that Dean wasn't a talker. He wasn't one for emotion or having discussions about his feelings. So the best Castiel could do was let Dean sob into his neck, admittedly a reaction Cas wasn't expecting.

Dean hated himself for letting himself come undone. He hated nothing more than having people see him cry. Whenever he was upset or angry, he would take it out on the wall or whatever girl was happy enough to let him fuck until he forgot. He almost felt dirty having his best friend kneeling in front of him, hugging him while Dean hugged him back, clinging to him for all he's worth and crying into his warmth.

He felt worse when he couldn't stop himself from pressing his lips onto the side of Castiel's neck.

Castiel froze when he did so and then relaxed a little when he did it for a second time. And a third. And a forth. Castiel was fully aware of Dean's vulnerability but he was also fully aware that they both needed each other. And even if it was for all the wrong reasons, Castiel wasn't going to miss his chance to return the signal and show Dean his need also.

He turned his head a little and intercepted Dean's lips, crushing them against his. Immediately, Castiel's hands were on the back of Dean's neck, grabbing at the short hair there and pulling him into the kiss. He felt Dean melt into him as he slipped his tongue past his lips and tangled it with his. The kiss became messy and quick within a matter of seconds as hands were being pushed past shirts and through hair. Moans were muffled but loud.

Castiel never pulled away as he stood and pushed Dean's legs together so he could successfully straddle the other boy's lap. Dean was surprised how eager Cas was and the idea of stopping crossed his mind but his thoughts were erased when Castiel brought his weight down and grinded against Dean's crotch.

Dean had to break the kiss then so he could catch his breath, groans escaped his mouth as he panted against Castiel's shoulder who was still grinding against Dean.

"C-Cas… We shouldn't… b-be doing this… I… Oh god!" Dean squeezed his eyes shut as the friction Castiel was causing made his body shake and heat pool in his stomach.

"Be quiet, Dean. I- I've wanted this f… for so long. Wanted… you." Castiel placed his hands on Dean's chest and pushed him backwards so his back was against the back of the sofa, creating a slightly better angle for Cas to meet Dean's fully hard cock every time he rocked his hips forward.

Dean reached out and pushed Castiel's coat off which for some frustrating reason, he was still wearing. His nimble fingers undid Castiel's shirt too which quickly joined his coat on the floor. His hands wandered across Castiel's bare chest and his nails dug into his skin every time it became too much not to moan out loud. Within seconds, he'd removed his own t-shirt and had Castiel's torso pressed against his.

Their lips met again for another hot, open kiss. Tongues became entangled, as did Dean's fingers in Castiel's short, fluffy hair as he met the other boy's grinds. Both of them moaned into each other's mouths and their thoughts obviously crossed the same path as they both sent their hands down to the buttons of one another's jeans. Dean managed to get his off under Castiel's weight and down to his ankles, Castiel was having trouble with his. Dean wrapped his arms around Castiel's back as he flipped them over so they were laying along the sofa, Castiel on the bottom so Dean could sit up and remove his jeans which fell onto the pile of the rest of Castiel's discarded clothing.

Now both only in their boxers, Dean leant forward and allowed his hips to press against Castiel's painfully slowly. Dean rolled his hips with a little more speed as he kissed along Castiel's jawline, biting gently as he did so.

Castiel tried everything in his power to make Dean grind against him faster. He was rewarded when he wrapped his legs behind Dean to pull him closer to his body.

"Fuck! D-Dean… please."

Dean felt his arms nearly give under his own weight. Castiel never swore. He'd never heard him curse in his life and the fact that Dean could make him only turned him on more. "God, Cas. The things you do to me…" Dean ran his hands along Castiel's arm and placed them above his head to rest on the arm on the sofa. Holding them there with one hand, Dean grinded down against Castiel's erection with all his weight and proceeded to rock his hips forward over and over again, gathering speed. His motion became shaky and his breath became jagged as he pushed his orgasm down, not wanting to come just yet.

"Fuck! Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Dean!" Castiel lifted his hips to meet Dean's and he mentally cursed himself for wearing underwear. He wanted more friction, more something, but the fabric was stopping him from getting what he wanted. He'd never experienced anything like this before and his entire body shuddered whenever Dean kneaded their erections together, he could only imagine how incredible it would feel without the barrier of their boxers between them.

It didn't stop his orgasm from coming down on him like a ton of bricks though when Dean introduced his hand to Castiel's cock. It took everything in him not to scream Dean's name when he felt the knot in his stomach come undone as he came into his underwear.

It only took a few more seconds before Dean was biting into Castiel's shoulder to stop him screaming as he came.

Both boys laid there, unmoving, for a few more minutes. None of them saying anything as they caught their breath, chests heaving. They only scattered to their feet once they heard Sam moving around upstairs, possibly coming downstairs. They didn't risk waiting to find out. Dean nearly fell over as he tried to pull his jeans up and throw his shirt over his head at the same time. He cringed slightly as the mess in his underwear started to dry. By the time he had his arms in, Castiel was fully dressed, whipping his trench coat behind him so he could thread his arms through.

They flopped back onto the sofa by the time Sam came downstairs. He nodded at them both and seemed blissfully aware of their reddened faces and irregular breathing as he made his way to the fridge.

Cas and Dean looked at one another and started laughing at their close call.

"I should get going. I'm not sure what excuse Gabriel gave to Uriel about my absence but I don't think it'll last long term."

"Yeah. Alright." Dean stood up to show Castiel to the door, wincing as he did so due the uncomfortable mess in his boxers. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Castiel grinned as he pushed past Dean to get out the door. Dean refused to move to the side so Cas had no choice but to press his body against Dean's to squeeze through the doorframe.

Dean watched Cas jog down the driveway, his trench coat billowing behind him and he couldn't help but smile. He just landed himself in a truly fucked up situation and he didn't mind.


	5. Chapter 5

Castiel had never been so unsure about a situation in his life. The next day at school, Dean smiled and greeted him as usual as if nothing had ever happened between them. Castiel was alright with accepting that what had happened the night before was simply Dean coping with what was happening in his family life. But naturally he wanted more. Naturally he couldn't get Dean out of his head.

He couldn't sleep that evening. Memories of the night before cursed him and he had to shamelessly masturbate three times before he finally fell asleep.

As days passed and the Christmas break was now only two days away, Castiel started to become more and more frustrated with Dean. As usual, they were inseparable at every given opportunity and they were often told to 'Get a room' whenever they were caught eye-fucking for more than five seconds - a common occurrence. But Castiel wasn't satisfied because they hadn't spoken about what happened between them when they got home from the hospital. At first he thought it was fine they hadn't spoken, he was fine accepting Dean may have regretted it so he didn't want to remember but as time went by, Castiel found himself not only becoming angry about Dean's ignorance but also a little bit hurt.

Both Dean and Cas had a free period which they would usually spend in an empty classroom; Castiel would attempt to do any outstanding homework and Dean would attempt to disrupt him but because it was a nice day out, both boys decided to sit outside in the shade on the lawn by the basketball courts. Dean would often join everyone on the courts while Cas sat in peace, happy to watch Dean play, but today he sat with his friend.

Castiel took it as the perfect opportunity to confront him.

"Dean?"

"Yup?"

"What the fuck is going on?"

Surprised by Castiel's out of character explicit language, Dean turned all his attention to him. "What?"

"It's been days and days since what happened on the sofa at your house and we haven't spoken about it, you haven't acknowledged it happened and it's really starting to… to piss me off…" What started strong and confronting quickly turned back to shy and regretful. He started to wish he hadn't said anything.

"Cas…-"

"No, let me finish." However he was still determined to speak. "I understand completely if you don't want anything like that to happen again. I understand if what happened was a mirroring of your emotions because of what happened to Bobby and while I don't regret what happened I don't want to be that person you go to and fornicate with when you're upset because I know you do that; you're not very good with expressing yourself so you use sex as a release and that's fine and while I'm happy we're able to carry on like normal and be friends, I'd still like to talk about it because I-"

Castiel had started rambling so Dean cut him off by pressing his lips against his. He held them there without much movement due to Castiel's shock educed stillness.

Once Dean pulled away Castiel blinked and stared at him for what felt like years. "I… what?"

"You can't really blame me for being confused and a bit scared. I have no idea what's going on and I'm fully aware that whatever _is_ happening is seriously fucked up but I'm happy to roll with it if you are."

Castiel nodded. "What does it mean to 'roll with it'?"

"Don't know."

Cas just nodded again and turned to face the school fields, smiling.

They both sat in silence for a few minutes watching people pass. Dean couldn't help but smile to himself. Even though his family were on edge, what with Bobby still in hospital leaving him to care for Sam alone, he was happy. He put it down to Cas. He really was confused about their situation but he didn't dwell on it too much. He just knew that when he had Castiel in his company, everything seemed alright.

When the bell rang to signify the end of their free period, Dean and Castiel stood up and headed for their last class of the day. They both had separate classes so they said their goodbyes and walked in different directions.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

Once class was over, Castiel met up with Gabriel in the parking lot. He was also joined by Sam and Dean.

"There he is! Hurry up" shouted Gabriel.

"What's going on?"

"I'm sick and tired of being shackled to that house! Dean said we can stay at his tonight."

Castiel looked at his brother with an expression as if to say 'Are you kidding?'. "You do realise that Uriel will have none of this don't you?"

"Cassie, he can't _actually_ do anything to us!"

"He can kick us out?"

"Do you really think Michael would let him do that? Even if he did, once Uriel leaves we'll have back in. Now are you getting in the car or not?"

Castiel looked at the ground as he nervously kicked a stone with his shoe. He debated what he should do. If he went he got to spend the entire evening at Dean's although it's not like he'd get any alone time with him seeing as their brothers would be there also. He also thought about how if he joined them, Uriel would be pissed. Castiel knew how strict he was.

Eventually he shook his head. "Sorry, Gabe. Sorry, Dean. Thank you but I shouldn't."

"Cas, come on" Moaned Dean. He was leant up against the Impala with his arms crossed.

"I'm sorry. I don't want to get on the wrong side of Uriel."

Gabriel huffed and glared at his little brother as if he had killed his pet. He threw his arms up in defeat and walked around to the other side of the car. Dean stared at Castiel with a faint smile and nodded, pushing himself off the car and towards his friend. He placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently.

"Come on, Cas. At least let me give you a lift."

Castiel clambered into the back seat next to Sam. All three boys tried their hardest to convince Cas to change his mind. Which of course, he didn't. It was tempting though. There was the promise of pizza and bad movies. Bobby wasn't going to get released from hospital until Saturday so they had the house to themselves. But the thought of having Uriel mad at him wasn't worth it.

They pulled up a street away from Castiel's house so Uriel couldn't see them with Gabriel in the car who wasn't planning on getting out.

Castiel was stood on the front porch, searching for his front door key when Uriel threw the door open from the other side.

"Where's Gabriel?" he stated.

"What?" Castiel stared up at him in surprise, his backpack still open with his hand still stuck in trying to find his key.

"Gabriel. Where is he?"

"Err.." Castiel didn't anticipate he would have to lie about his brother's absence. He should have thought about it so he could prepare a lie before hand. "I don't know…"

"Was he not at school with you?"

"He… err… has stayed… at school"

"Stayed?"

"Yes…" He shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, still aware he's stood on the front porch. "Can I come in?"

Uriel stared him down for a few seconds before standing aside and letting him in.

Castiel immediately hurried into the house and into the front room where Lucifer was sat reading a book (probably one of Uriel's accepted genres).

"I got a phone call from the school today to say that Gabriel has got yet _another_ detention. He's one away from being suspended. Where he is, Castiel?" Uriel was stood in the doorway to the living room, his hands behind his back, glaring at Cas who was sat on the sofa, as close to Lucifer as he could get.

"I don't know. School?"

"You are not very convincing."

Castiel just shrugged and looked at his feet. Lucifer pulled his attention away from his book to stare at them both. "Leave him alone, Uriel. So what if he doesn't know where Gabriel is?"

"I know for a fact that that Castiel is lying and for that, not only must he repent, but he must also tell me the truth."

"I don't understand why you want Gabriel so much. He's always been a little shit but he's become so much worse since you've arrived. I'd give up and leave if I were you." Lucifer wrapped an arm around Castiel and pulled him into his side in an awkward hug as he spoke up at Uriel. Castiel in turn looked at his brother in shock, not knowing how he can speak to Uriel like that.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You heard me. I don't even know why you're here."

Uriel stepped further into the room and stopped short of the sofa Lucifer was sat on. Castiel scooted away from his brother and to the other end of the sofa, tempted to call out for Michael or Anna. "I am here, boy, to make sure our family name is being held responsibly. I am here because this _pit_ you call a home is ridden with sin. I can smell the cheap women and alcohol from miles away and I shall _not_ stand by and let this family _rot_."

Lucifer stood up sharply so he was inches from Uriel's face. "This isn't you're family. You're only here because some distant aunt of ours was mad enough to marry you. You have no say in the lives of my brothers. And you sure as hell can't come into our home acting all high and mighty, throwing orders at us because we damn well wont take it." Lucifer's voice was calm and at a reasonable level but you only had to look at his face to know he trying to bite back his fury. He gritted his teeth as he spoke and the muscles in his neck tightened.

"When you've earned the respect that I have, you're entitled to the power to save your own family from sin. And while you're soul is headed for hell, I shall _not_ watch you condemn the soul of Castiel! Young Castiel who thankfully has not taken the same road of sin and impurity that you have!"

Lucifer smirked wickedly and Castiel _knew_ he was seconds away from spitting out the revelation that Castiel was gay and in the eyes of Uriel, couldn't be saved. But Castiel also knew that Lucifer wouldn't do that. Instead, he looked deep into Uriel's eyes and spoke at low volume. "I have helped raise my siblings and let me tell you that they are fucking fantastic! If they are headed for hell then so be it. They can do so and they will do it well. Castiel can go off to college, get a degree, get a phd, and fuck every single person there while he does it and I will still be proud of him. Gabriel can fuck up at school, he can get expelled for all I care but I know that he will turn out ten times better than he would if you were the one to raise him. My family is imperfect and fucked up and I wouldn't have it any other way. So yeah, we're definitely going to hell but we will have all the best stories to tell."

Uriel looked as if he was either about to explode or strangle Lucifer. He did neither. He closed his eyes and pointed towards the front door. "I want you out of this house and out of my sight. You are poison to this family and I shall not have it. Leave. Now."

Lucifer grinned and then stepped aside. "Gladly." He walked up to Castiel who was still in the room and in complete shock. He placed a hand to the back of Castiel's neck and pulled him forward so he could kiss his forehead. "Don't put up with him if you don't want to."

"Where are you going?"

"Oh I'll be back, don't worry. He can't stay here forever. I'll phone you later." Lucifer started off towards the door but Castiel spoke up again.

"He's not going to be here for much longer. There's a nice motel a few blocks away, you can stay there."

Lucifer turned to his brother and frowned. "Cassie, you're ruining my badass exit. Shut the fuck up."

"Oh. Sorry."

Lucifer nodded and then scowled at Uriel before stepping into the hall and slamming the front door behind him so hard the hinges nearly came off. Castiel had to admit that it was a badass exit.

Uriel turned to Castiel, still red in the face and fuming. "Castiel. To your room. God help you if you don't stay there all night."

Not wanting the same fate as his brother, Castiel left the room quickly and ran up the stairs to his bedroom.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

When Michael returned from work that evening, he was incredibly angry to learn that Uriel had kicked Lucifer out. He was angrier to find out that Gabriel hadn't come home from school and while he could guess he was fine and just at a friend's house, he felt betrayed that his brothers were leaving him to deal with Uriel.

Castiel remained in his room purely due to fear. He could hear Uriel having a shouting match with Michael downstairs and at one point Anna even joined in.

When things had finally gone quiet, Castiel picked up his phone and dialed Dean's number.

"_Hello?"_

"Dean, it's Castiel."

"_Yes, Cas, I know. Caller ID remember?"_

"Oh. Yes. Dean, I need your help. How does one sneak out?"

"_I'm sorry? You want to sneak out?"_

"Yes, Dean. I don't understand what's so hard to comprehend."

"_Alright, alright. Where's everyone in the house?"_

"Err…" Castiel had to think about it. "Uriel's most likely in the living room with Michael. If Anna hasn't snuck out already, she's in her room."

"_Alright. Then just tip-toe downstairs and out the back door in the kitchen?"_

"Do you really think I can?"

"_Yes. I'll leave now and pick you up where I dropped you off earlier. See you soon. Don't pussy out."_

"I'm not going to… pussy out."

"_Yes you will. I'll see you soon."_ Dean hung up.

Castiel bit his lip as he sat on his bed. He thought about rearranging some pillows under his comforter to make it look like he was asleep in bed but then decided against it. It was probably something people only did in movies anyway.

He picked up his backpack and pulled the straps over his shoulders before quietly opening his bedroom door and peaking outside. There was no one in the hallway.

Knowing which of the stairs squeaked and which ones didn't, Castiel lightly walked down the stairs, stopping every now and then to listen to the house. From the sounds of the TV, Uriel was definitely in the living room.

Accepting his new found knowledge, Castiel jumped off the third stair knowing that the last two squeak and silently ran for the kitchen and hopefully, to the back door.

"Where are you going?"

Castiel froze and very very slowly turned around on the balls of his feet.

Michael was stood, unnoticed behind the open fridge door. "Castiel?"

Sweating a little, Castiel winced as he said "Out?".

Michael closed the fridge door and look out into the hallway to see if Uriel was coming. Which he wasn't. "Are you going to Dean's?"

"Maybe."

"Gabriel's there isn't he?"

"Maybe."

"Hurry up before Uriel sees you."

Castiel frowned and stared at his brother. "What?" Michael was the last person Castiel would imagine to assist in a break out.

"Go before I change my mind and send you back to your room." With that, Michael turned his back on Castiel and pretended not to see him, swinging an arm behind his back and flicking his hand in a 'Go' motion before walking out of the kitchen.

Castiel smiled as he opened the back door and very gently shut it again.

He practically sprinted to the end of the street when he saw the Impala waiting for him on the other side of the road with Dean poking his head out the window shouting "Hurry up" at him.

Castiel was panting heavily when he jumped into the passenger seat and slammed the car door shut.

"You took your time." Dean had pulled off the minute Castiel was safely inside.

"Sorry."

"What made you change your mind then?"

"Uriel kicked Lucifer out."

"Wow. Go Luci."

Castiel was fidgety the entire car ride and it was putting Dean on edge. He watched as Cas fiddled with the hem of his shirt. "Hey there, nervvy. You alright?"

"Mmm." Castiel frowned. "Maybe I should go back. I'm an idiot. I've just snuck out. Uriel's going to find out and shout at me too. This was a mistake. Turn around, Dean, I have to go home."

"Hey. It's alright. You're fine, he wont find out."

"Mmm." Cas was making nervous squeaky noises which in any other situation, Dean would tease him about.

Instead, he placed a hand on Castiel's thigh and rubbed his thumb in circles to try and get him to calm down. "It's fine, Cas. Stop worrying."

Castiel placed his hand on top on Dean's and squeezed it gently while he looked out the window. "Mmm. I think I should go home. This was a mistake."

"Cas, I'm not taking you home. Shut up and stop worrying." Dean pressed down a little on Castiel's leg which made Cas turn away from the window and stare at his hand on top of Dean's as if realising for the first time it was there.

Dean kept his eyes on the road but could see Castiel looking at him from the corner of his eye. Cas shifted in his seat a little and leant in to invade Dean's personal space. Dean found it a lot harder to concentrate on driving when he had Castiel's lips millimeters away from his neck. He cleared his throat and tried to say Castiel's name but it came out as a whimper.

Smiling, Castiel slid Dean's hand further up his leg and closer towards his crotch which was becoming harder by the second. When Castiel's lips finally made contact to Dean's neck, Dean was on the edge of breaking into a sweat.

He weighed up his options and eventually he checked his rear-view mirror before steering off the road and onto a dirt track far enough from the steady stream of traffic.

Turning off the engine and headlights, Dean turned to capture Castiel's lips against his own. "Fuck me, Cas, you're such a tease."

Castiel smiled against Dean's lips before deepening the kiss, pushing his tongue into Dean's mouth. His hands slid up Dean's body and into his hair which he tugged sharply back, exposing Dean's neck. He instantly pressed kisses from the base of his neck and along his jaw, sucking and biting as he did so causing Dean to moan out loud.

Dean never imagined Castiel would be so forward. This was the guy who rarely spoke up first to people he didn't know. This was the guy who earlier struggled to confront Dean about their situation. And this was the guy who was bruising Dean's lips against his own while he moaned his name.

Dean smirked. "Back seat. Now."

Both boys clambered into the back of the car, Castiel making it first and dragging Dean on top of him as he did so. The space was small but there was enough room for Dean to straddle Castiel's lap and remove his own shirt. He pushed Castiel down when he tried to sit up and assault Dean's naked chest with kisses. "No" he stated as he leant down and kissed Cas roughly, his expert hands unbuttoning the other boy's shirt as he grinded his hips against Castiel's.

Castiel's fingernails dug into Dean's shoulders as he ground their hips together. "Mmm… Dean. Please. Plea- Ah fuck!"

Dean grinned and completely removed Castiel's shirt then made his way to the buttons of his jeans. He never broke eye contact as he pulled Cas' jeans and boxers to his ankles. Castiel winced slightly as the cold air hit him and he blushed deeply when he realised Dean was hovering over him while he was now completely naked, spread across the backseat of the Impala. "You're staring" he said before Dean's eyes met his once again. They were filled with want and need and pure hunger and Castiel couldn't help but allow a moan escape his lips.

Dean leant down and pressed his lips against Castiel's, their bodies rocking together as he did so. Dean could hardly stop his hands from exploring every inch of Castiel's body but they never brushed near where Cas was crying out for him to, his hips bucking up towards Dean, begging for something but Dean wouldn't let him have it. Not yet. He was too busy running his tongue up along Castiel's neck.

He bruised kisses into his skin and nibbled along his collarbone, inhaling every now and then, treasuring his scent. He flicked his tongue out along the skin of Castiel's chest, tasting the sweat and all the while digging his fingers into Castiel's hip to stop him bucking up.

"Dean… Please. Oh god. I nee-eed you."

Dean looked up at Castiel through his eyelashes and smiled when he saw he had his head lulled back, panting heavily. He liked how easily he could get him to beg. He liked how he could run feathery kisses along the inside of this thigh and Cas would call out, cursing him for being so slow.

Dean alternated between each of Castiel's thighs, biting down heavily on the inside of them, not having to worry about people seeing the evidence later.

Dean was nervous. But not because of reasons he would have expected. He wasn't nervous because Castiel was a guy. He had gotten past the wall of 'Does this make me gay?', he decided he didn't care, he just wanted Castiel. He wasn't nervous because he didn't know what to do. Just because he'd never been with a guy before didn't mean he didn't know how to do it. He just took what he enjoyed having done to him and applied it to Castiel. No. He was nervous because he was worried about being shit. Castiel was a virgin and Dean was the only person to ever touch him in this way. He wanted anything and everything he did to him to be amazing. He wanted Castiel to be screaming his name as he came. He wanted him to be shaky during the come down. He wanted every part of his body to not only belong to Dean, but to _want_ to belong to Dean. He wanted Castiel to simply _think_ about Dean's mouth and be close to orgasm.

Dean decided he would stop teasing the moment Castiel's hand found it's way to Dean's hair, grabbing on to it, begging him to move on and quickly.

He smirked before running his tongue, painfully slowly along the underside of Castiel's cock. He stopped at the tip and stared up at Castiel once more. Both their eyes met for a split second before Castiel let his head fall back again, writhing in pleasure.

"Dean… Please…"

Dean grew hot when he heard Cas moan loudly the minute he opened his mouth and swallowed him down. Dean had to lay his forearm across Castiel's hips to stop him from gagging him.

Castiel was completely unaware of the noises he was making or what actions he was doing with his hips. All he could concentrate on was the feeling of Dean's tongue dancing across the tip of his cock then the sensation of his lips, becoming taught as they traveled along his shaft. He could feel him hollow out his cheeks as he bobbed his head up and down with varying speed.

Dean wrapped his hand around the base of Castiel's cock to stroke what he couldn't reach with his mouth. This caused Cas to tighten his grip in Dean's hair and Dean moaned in response, causing vibrations to travel through Castiel's body.

Dean never closed his eyes. He always looked up at Castiel through his eyelashes. He could see a sweat break out over his body. He could see his skin turn red with fever. He could see how every motion he was doing with his tongue was causing Cas to arch his back and clutch onto the upholstery with his free hand and every bit of it was turning him on more.

With his spare hand, Dean reached down and undid his own belt, pushing down his jeans and underwear just far enough to free his painfully hard cock. He stroked himself quickly as he watched Castiel scream his name, knowing he was close.

"D- Oh god, Dean. I… fuck!" Castiel bucked his hips forward again and again and Dean finally closed his eyes, squeezing them together and he took it, moving with Castiel's motions so he didn't gag too much.

He took his hand away from Castiel's cock and shifted his weight onto his knees more so he could continue allowing Cas fuck his mouth. He never swallowed his saliva so his hand was slick by the time he removed it and, watching Cas the entire time - fearful he'll miss his reaction - he placed one finger at his entrance. Castiel was too preoccupied to notice Dean's finger until it entered him causing his back to arch, undecided if it was due to uncomfortability or pleasure. Dean crooked his finger as he slowly removed it, knowing for certain he'd hit the spot he wanted to because Cas' back arched so much it was on the verge of breaking in two, his fingers dug into Dean's shoulder so hard they were bound to leave bruises and the profanities he was screaming weren't understandable.

As Dean watched, he quickened his pace with his hand as he worked at himself and he placed two fingers inside Castiel; fucking him with his fingers until he was screaming his name over and over again.

Cas clenched his eyes together and threw his head back at he came into Dean's mouth; his hips juttering through his orgasm. He could feel Dean's tongue running over his now softening cock as he swallowed down his come. Dean sat back a little and rested his forehead on Castiel's knee as he panted through his own orgasm, ejaculating onto the backseat.

They both stayed in their positions for five minutes with Cas trying to catch his breath with Dean resting in between his legs. They both smiled at each other. Dean turned his head slightly and pressed gentle kisses onto Castiel's knee. He was trying to get his head around what had just happened. In the end he decided he didn't care, he was happy and he could tell Cas was definitely happy so he allowed himself to sit and bask in the post-orgasm moment until the sound of his phone going off made them both jump.

"Sonofabitch!" shouted Dean as he searched for his phone amongst his jeans which were tangled around his ankles. "Hello?"

"_Dean? Are you alright? You've been gone an hour?"_ asked Sam. Dean had completely forgotten how he'd left Sam and Gabriel at home while he picked Castiel up.

"Yeah, sorry. Castiel took his sweet time leaving the house and there was erm… an accident on the road. Traffic got bad. We won't be long." Dean shrugged to Castiel who shrugged back, content with the lie they have to tell when they get to Dean's.

"… _Alright. Just hurry up. We're hungry." _Dean wasn't listening to what Sam was saying on the other end of the phone. He was too busy grinning as his eyes ran over Castiel's body. He hadn't moved, he was too busy trying to calm his breathing and his legs were still open. Dean could see several bruises along the inside of his thigh where he'd bitten him. He made a mental note to kiss them before they fade within the next few days.

"Yeah 'kay." Dean hung up and threw his phone over on to the drivers seat. He sat back and rested against the inside of the car door. He smiled at Cas who was still naked, he was shivering due to the fact his body was covered in sweat and was now cooling. "Ready to go?"

Castiel sat up slowly and nodded. "Yes. I think we need to make ourselves decent though."

"I suppose" huffed Dean. He could have stayed in the back seat of the Impala with Cas for the entire night. But his leg was going dead, it was getting stuffy and he was starving. He wriggled about so he could pull his boxers and jeans from his ankles to his hips, he then searched for his shirt which he found under the passenger seat. Once he was dressed, he threw open the car door so he could stretch.

"Dean! Don't open the door, I'm still naked!"

"No one can see, you're alright." He closed the door once he got out to allow Castiel to put his clothes back on.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

When they made it back to Dean's place, Sam and Gabriel were in the front room shouting at each other. Dean quickly walked into the room to find out why and saw they were both sat on the floor in front of the tv, each with a controller paying Mario Kart.

"Really?" he said from behind them.

"Hey, Dean" said Sam, far too involved with the game to say anything else.

"Admit it, Dean. It's the best game ever." Gabriel looked up at Dean for a split second before quickly returning his gaze back to the tv.

Dean rolled his eyes and walked up to the screen, turning it off which caused both Sam and Gabriel to shout.

"Why did you do that?"

"Because, we're not going to spend the entire night watching you two play video games." Dean laid down on the nearest sofa and placed his arm across his face.

"Hello Gabriel" said Castiel from the doorway of the living room.

Gabriel turned around and grinned. "Hey, Cassie. What made you change your mind about coming then?"

"Uriel kicked Lucifer out."

"He what!? Why?"

Castiel walked through the room and sat down softly in one of the armchairs. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Dean smiling to himself, staring at Cas with one eye from under his arm.

"He err, stood up to Uriel. There was a lot of insults and shouting and eventually Uriel demanded Lucifer leaves." Castiel couldn't quite concentrate all of his attention on talking to Gabriel because he could still see Dean who was still smiling and had his hand resting on the inside of his thigh, subtly running it up to his crotch where he would stop and lift his hips into his hand. If anyone else was watching, they'd just think he was shifting about to get comfortable but Castiel knew he knew he was watching and Castiel knew he was teasing.

"Can he do that?" asked Sam.

"I don't know… he has though. Erm, and he's not happy with you, Gabriel. He said you're close to suspension at school."

"Haha. Brilliant. What did he say?"

"Not much. He's looking for you though and is very angry."

"Let him be angry. Michael wont stand for it if he kicks me out too. Hey, you should get in trouble, let him know you're a homo and then you're gone. Michael _definitely_ wont let that happen. Maybe he'll kick Uriel out." Gabriel smiled to himself as if he just came up with the most ingenious plan in the world.

"No. Definitely not. I'm very fond of having a home, thank you very much."

"I think it's a great idea" said Dean from the other side of the room. He'd stopped trying to tease Cas when he realised it wasn't working as well as he'd like. "You could live here." He sat up and winked at Castiel - Sam and Gabriel didn't notice - before standing and announcing he's ordering them pizza.

"Hey, Dean, what's on your neck?" asked Sam.

"What?"

"Awh, man! You have the biggest hickey! Who'd you hook up with? And more importantly, when?" Gabriel had stood up and was on his tip-toes trying to inspect Dean's neck.

"It's from today… err… Bela did it. Yeah before the end of school. Janitor's closet." Dean lied. He placed a hand over his neck and shifted his eyes to Castiel who was slyly poking around his neck, trying to find any part of it feeling bruised incase Dean had left any evidence on him. Dean knew he was safe though. The only hickey's he had given Cas was on his thighs.

"I thought you couldn't stand her."

"Yeah, Dean. I thought you hated Bela." Sam had his arms folded and was staring up at his brother.

"I do. Doesn't mean she isn't a good hook up. Hey! How about that pizza?" Dean turned around swiftly and headed for the kitchen followed by Sam. Leaving the Novak brother's in the lounge.

Gabriel turned to Cas. "You alright? You look spooked."

"Hmm. Yeah I'm fine. I just… err… I'm worried about the whole Lucifer/Uriel thing. It's alright."

"You need to relax. Michael won't let anything bad happen. Promise." He slapped his younger brother on the shoulder before laying across the sofa with his hands behind his head.

In the kitchen Sam leant against the counter while Dean searched through all the takeout flyers on the fridge to find the good pizza one.

"How are you, Sammy?"

"I'm fine. I'm looking forward to Bobby coming home."

"Hey, me too. Although bare in mind he'll be a bitch, what with the wheelchair and everything."

Sam nodded slightly. "Yeah. Everything's going to be different isn't it?"

"Hell yeah. We'll help him though. We're family, Sammy."

"Yeah." Sam looked up at Dean who was still failing miserably at trying to find the menu. "So you finally did it, then?"

Dean furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Did what?"

"You. And Cas."

Feeling his body going stiff and his heart beat faster, Dean stopped his hunt and stared at Sam. "What about me and Cas?"

"Gabriel may be too dumb to notice but I'm not. You and Cas finally hooked up."

"What? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh come on, Dean. For the past few months the sexual tension between the two of you has been unbearable and now you both walk in, an hour late, you with a massive hickey on your neck and the tension is gone. I'm not an idiot."

Dean glared at his brother. That kid was smart. "Sorry, Sammy. I don't know what to tell you. Nothing's going on."

Sam raised his eyebrows, obviously not believing him while Dean turned his attention back to finding their takeout menu.

He fiddled with the corner of it for a few seconds while staring at the floor before speaking. "If err… if anything was… y'know… between me and Cas. Would it bother you?"

"No. I like Cas. He'd be good for you."

"Alright. Not that anything's happening between us though."

"Yeah. Sure. Whatever you say, Dean. Now hurry up, I'm starving."

"Bitch."

"Jerk."


	6. Chapter 6

I apologise for taking so long with this chapter but the truth is I just hit a wall. I couldn't find the want to write and I'm sorry for that. It took a few lovely comments from you beautiful readers to get me going again and I thank you. I love you very much. I hope you enjoy it.

I've also made sure to answer a lot of your questions in this chapter. I know it's long but just read it and have your questions answered! Thank you again. You guys mean the world 3

* * *

That evening consisted of sexual frustration on Castiel's part and Gabriel frustration on Dean's part due to the fact Gabriel had seemed to overstep the mark on his teasing of Dean by flirting with Sam. Something which was just amusing to both Sam and Cas.

They all went straight to school the next morning, simply not caring whether or not Uriel found out if Castiel snuck out, although Cas actually cared very much.

The day dragged by and the only entertainment Dean could find was during class when he would sit behind Castiel, kicking the back of his chair every now and then slouching back so far into his chair his foot could read Castiel's leg which he would proceed to run his foot up. He loved when Cas would nervously scratch the back of his head and Dean knew that at that moment he was trying to think of something other than Dean.

Dean made a mental note of things he wanted to do to Cas and he just added '_Find his hair pulling kink. He must have one'_ to the top. But today, Dean's goals were simply to occupy himself by making Cas feel as awkward and frustrated as possible. Sexually frustrated that is.

After Mrs Mills ended class, everyone moved to pack up and Dean took the opportunity to stand behind Castiel and bend down so he could ghost his breath over the back of his neck making him stiffen in chair.

"Dean, what are you doing?"

"Having fun." Dean's eyes darted around the classroom to check no one was looking before he barely ran his tongue along Castiel's shoulder and up his neck.

"Dean…" Castiel could hardly help the breathless way he said Dean's name. "We can't do this. Not here."

"No one's looking."

"Please. Stop."

Dean huffed and stood up properly before walking around to the side of Castiel's desk and sitting on it while Cas continued to put his books into his messenger bag. "You take ages."

"I like to avoid the after-class-crowds."

Dean shifted a little then laid back fully across Castiel's desk, he raised his arms to support his head causing his shirt to ride up which was directly in Cas' line of view.

"Do you not care where you are?"

"Not really."

"You're laying on my notes."

"Should've cleared them away sooner."

Castiel stood up and threw his bag over his shoulder. "Do you realise how annoying you are?"

"Yep." Dean sat up and scanned the room. It was empty now, everyone including the teacher grew tired of waiting for Dean and Castiel to leave. Dean took his chance to reach out and grab Castiel by his belt. He pulled him into his body by his hips and instantly pressed his lips up against his.

Castiel deepened the kiss and pushed his tongue past Dean's lips, moaning into his mouth. His hands fell to the waistband of Dean's jeans and he dipped his thumbs into them which he ran along the soft skin of his hips and stopped when they reached his back. Castiel pulled away slightly and quickly removed his hands from behind Dean to grab his notes which were on the desk by his ass.

"Hey! All that just to get your stupid notes?"

Castiel shrugged as he stepped back and stuffed the papers into his bag. "You were laying on them beforehand."

"Right, well you have to do something about my boner now. You are not fair."

"Take care of it yourself." Dean sat on the desk with his jaw dropped. He couldn't believe that not long ago, Castiel was some shy, quiet virgin who daren't even talk to Dean due to fear of embarrassing himself. And now he was being the biggest, sexiest, tease Dean could imagine.

Castiel smirked and turned around to find Jo a few meters away from him. His face dropped. "Hello, Jo."

"What is going on here then?"

"Excuse me?"

Jo sported the biggest grin as she looked between the two boys. Dean was obviously uncomfortable with a huge erection which, yes, was visible through his Jeans. "How long has this been going on?"

"How… how long have you been standing there?" Dean shifted a little on the desk, trying to adjust himself because his boner, no matter what he thought about, wouldn't go away.

"Oh, long enough, don't worry." Still grinning, Jo reached out and placed a hand on Castiel's shoulder. "So… tell me everything."

Castiel couldn't look more uncomfortable if he tried. If it was any other situation, Dean would be laughing at his expression. "There… isn't much to tell." He didn't look at Jo as he said this. He kept his wide eyes fixed on the wall opposite, his body stiff.

Dean jumped off the desk, he jeans finally feeling looser. "Jo-"

"I knew it, Dean. Oh this is so fantastic!"

"Fantastic?"

"Yes." Jo walked away from Castiel, who released a breath he'd been holding, and towards Dean. "It's about time! Oh just wait until I tell the others!"

"No!" Dean jolted towards Jo and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Erm… No we don't want people to know just yet… that's all…" Dean looked to Castiel who was frowning with worry. Definitely not telling people just yet.

"Oh, please. I'm only going to tell Ash and Pam. And maybe Adam. I wont say anything to Gabriel and definitely not to Lisa. Besides, Pam now owes Ash fifty dollars."

"How does Pam owe Ash fifty dollars?"

"Every week they make a bet that that week will be the week you two finally shack up. They're hardly going to be surprised when I tell them."

"Jo, please just-"

"I'll see you both at lunch yeah? Oh I'm so happy for you two!"

"Jo!"

"Bye Dean!"

Jo waved them both goodbye as she left the room leaving Dean sighing with his arms held helplessly at his side and Castiel looking like he'll need a paper bag to breathe into.

"Relax, Cas. It's not that bad."

"But-but-but what if everyone else finds out? What if Uriel finds out and so does Alistair and Gordon and Crowley and they beat you up too? I can't deal with them beating you up as well-"

"Hey! Hey, Cas. Relax. It's fine." Dean grabbed onto Castiel's shoulders and shook him lightly. "Shut up. It's fine. Uriel wont find out. And if those pricks, Alistair and friends, do then that's fine. They won't lay a hand on me and they certainly wont lay one on you alright?"

Castiel nodded unsurely. Dean kissed him.

Castiel's eyes flew open and he gripped Dean's shirt, fully intending to push him away, anyone could walk in just like Jo did, but instead he found himself pulling him closer. Dean gasped as Castiel unwillingly rocked their bodies together and bumped his hips against Dean's.

"Cas." Dean tried to speak in between kisses. "You have a free period now, right?"

Castiel moaned a 'Yes' into Dean's lips before tangling his fingers into his hair. Dean smiled against his mouth and pulled away, heading out to leave the room.

"Dean? Where are you going?" Castiel stood in the middle of the classroom very confused, very swept and still very horny.

"Are you coming or not?" Dean looked back over his shoulder to see Castiel frowning before running out after Dean.

Dean lead them down the empty hall until they reached the boys bathroom at the end. He practically kicked the door in before opening all the stalls to make sure they're alone. Once the coast was clear he reached out and grabbed Cas by the lapels, shoving him in the furthest vacant stall.

"Dean… this isn't a good idea. Definitely not a good idea."

"Sure it is." The way Dean's voice broke slightly gave Castiel reason to believe he was lying but the moment his hair was in Dean's hands, being sharply pulled back to expose his neck, he was far beyond caring.

A moan broke from Castiel's throat and Dean grinned. He assaulted Castiel's neck with kisses while his fingers worked on undoing his own jeans.

Castiel placed his hands on Dean's shoulders and pushed him back against the wall with a thud, knocking the air out of Dean's lungs. He didn't allow him a chance to get his breath back before dropping to his knees pulling Dean's jeans and boxers down with him. He looked up at Dean and bit his own bottom lip nervously which caused Dean to shift and his erection to twitch. Castiel smiled unsurely. While he started out acting confident; he was starting to doubt his abilities especially since he'd never done this before. He knew the mechanics of things though. He glanced at Dean's cock which was half-hard in front of him. Castiel ran the tip of his tongue, ever so gently, along the underside and to the tip. He felt a sense of achievement when Dean shivered at the contact. He could do this.

"For fuck sake, Cas, stop teasing."

"You need to learn patience, Dean." Cas pressed his lips against Dean's cock between every word.

"You bastard. You don't realise how sexy you are do you?"

Castiel smiled then took Dean into his mouth making him squirm in front of him. Castiel ran his hands his Dean's thighs and around to his ass which he dug his nails into. He continued to swallow him down, much further than his gag reflex should allow.

"Sonofabitch, Cas!" Dean's head thudded back against the bathroom wall and his hips jerked forward over and over again, each time with some force and Cas took it without complaint.

Castiel closed his eyes and if he could, he would have smiled. He loved the feeling of Dean melting in his hands. He loved the noises Dean was trying so hard to hold back. Even as Dean placed a hand on the back of his head and pushed down into his throat with a muffled cry, Castiel loved every second of it.

Dean didn't last much longer. He only just managed to warn Castiel he was about to come before his hips jerked with his orgasm. Castiel pulled back a little but still kept his mouth open so he could catch everything Dean was giving him and swallowed.

Dean stared down at him in disbelief. Although he knew it was true, he was seriously struggling to believe Castiel was a shy, virgin nerd before he got his hands on him. He reached out and pulled Cas up so he was standing. He kissed him roughly, tasting himself on his tongue before slowing down and giving Cas a much more tender, soft kiss.

They heard the bathroom door swing open and they stilled instantly, listening carefully. The person who entered hummed as they walked across the room the use the urinal. Both Dean and Castiel daren't move until Dean realised he was still naked from the waist down. He slowly bent down and grabbed his jeans by the belt to stop the clanging of metal as he yanked them up. His pants got caught in the process and he tripped, falling back against the wall with a loud 'Oof'

"Son of a bitch!" Dean's eyes flew open as the words slipped from his lips and he instantly threw his hand to his mouth to stop anything else coming out.

"Dean?" asked the person in the bathroom.

The familiar voice caused both Dean and Cas to freeze. "Gabe?" Dean frowned as he realised who it was then looked at Cas, the colour draining from his face.

"Are you alright?" Gabriel asked uncertainly. The heavy pants coming from the bathroom stall had him questioning Dean's health.

"Err… Yeah. Yeah I'm good."

"… are you sure? You sound very… out of breath."

"Yeah. Just, err… Mexican food. You know what it's like." Dean shrugged at Cas in admittance of 'What else was I meant to say'.

"Ah yeah. The food can be nasty here." They could hear Gabriel move to the sink and turn the water on. "Hey, Dean? Have you seen my brother anywhere?"

"No" answered Dean, maybe a little too quickly.

"Really? You two are attached at the hip. I wanna ask him something."

"Err… err. Sorry, haven't seen him. Maybe you should go find him." Dean relaxed a little in hope that Gabriel would leave to find his brother. Castiel didn't.

"I'll phone him. I already checked his hide-away-classroom. Wasn't there."

"Yeah. Good idea. See you later, then." Dean's eyes never left Castiel's who look horrified.

"I'll phone him from in here. I tell you, if Ms Blake catches me on my phone again, she might actually murder me. Ha, I'd like to see her try."

Both Dean and Castiel froze. They glanced down. Castiel's bag was on the floor with his phone in the front pocket where he always kept it. They looked back at each other before scrambling to reach the bag to retrieve the phone before it rung.

They didn't find it in time.

Silence fell in the bathroom except for the shrill ring of Castiel's phone. Once it stopped, Dean could practically hear the gears in Gabriel's head churning.

"Dean?"

"Yes."

"Is my brother in there with you?"

"Erm…" Dean wasn't sure if he should lie or not. The look of defeat on Castiel's face told him 'Fuck it'. "Maybe…"

"Oh my god! Castiel!?"

"Hello, Gabriel." Castiel let his chin fall to his chest as he pulled his coat over his head in shame. Gabriel couldn't see them through the stall wall but Cas could feel his horrified glare.

"What the fuck! What are you two doing!? No! Don't tell me! Get out of there!" It took Dean a few seconds to settle his jeans on his hips and do up his belt which clinked loud enough for Gabriel to hear and shout "Please tell me you weren't doing stuff!"

They opened the stall door and sheepishly walked out, embarrassment slapped across Castiel's expression while Gabriel was shouting 'No. No. No!' over and over.

"How long has this been going on?"

Castiel shrugged. "Couple of weeks."

"Weeks!?" Gabriel gawked at the two of them. "Dean? Really? My brother!?"

"Oh, Gabriel! You were the one trying to set us up at the beginning of the year" said Castiel.

"I didn't think it'd _actually_ happen! Dean's the biggest whore I know but he's always chased women! Not men and certainly not you!"

"Hey! I am not a whore!"

"Shut up, Dean! You're fucking my brother, you're not allowed to say anything."

"Gabriel please." Castiel looked at his older brother and Gabriel looked at him.

About a minute passed before Gabriel moaned and threw his arms in the air. "Fine! Fine! But only because you're my best friend…" he pointed at Dean. "… and it's about fucking time you got laid" he pointed at Castiel.

Castiel rolled his eyes. "You wont tell Uriel will you?"

"Am I an idiot? No." With nothing else to say, Gabriel left the bathroom muttering to himself about never using the bathrooms at school again leaving Dean and Castiel utterly shellshocked.

"I thought he was going to punch me at one point." Dean laughed nervously and rested against one of the sinks.

"Me too."

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

The rest of the day when by uneventfully. Now with their group of friends knowing about them, Dean and Cas were nervous about sitting with them at lunch but nothing was said to make it an awkward situation. Pam paid Ash the fifty she owed him.

Castiel walked home with Gabriel that day. They were both completely silent which wasn't very out of character for Castiel but you knew that when Gabriel was quiet, something was up. Castiel assumed he was scared about what was waiting at home for him, what with Uriel threatening to burn down all of Lawrence to find him the day before.

He was right to be scared. The moment the two of them opened the front door and entered the house, Uriel was calling them both into the living room.

Castiel entered first silently, hovering around the doorway, only stepping aside to let Gabriel in. Both brothers looked at each other and smiled weakly. They knew Uriel was angry and they would stand together to get through the next twenty minutes of anger induced lecturing.

After five minutes of nothing, Gabriel spoke first.

"Are you just going to stand here or are you actually going to have a bit of a shout and then send us to ours room?"

"Respect. Gabriel. It is neither hard to understand nor learn. If I were you, I'd show some in this house. Where were you last night?" He looked at both Gabriel and Castiel, directing the question at the two of them. He'd found out Castiel snuck out obviously. It wasn't like Castiel would have been able to get away with it anyway, he knew he'd be busted.

"Well I didn't feel like coming home at all so I went straight to the Winchester's and Cassie couldn't stand being in this house much longer after you kicked Lucifer out so he snuck out and joined me. Questions?"

Uriel took a few steps towards them and stared at them. "It would seem that that Winchester boy is poison and I was right to distrust him."

"Yes. Well. He's a friend." Castiel aimed his speech at the ground, too afraid to look Uriel in the eyes.

"What he is, is disruptive and an encouragement for sin and I do not want to hear his name in this house again." The thing that scared Castiel most about Uriel was he didn't raise his voice like he'd expected him to. He just stared them down.

Never taking his gaze away from the floor, Castiel spoke quietly. "He's my friend."

"Not anymore." Cas clenched his fists at his sides. "I thought better of you, Castiel."

With his eyes watering and his shoulders shaking, Castiel glanced a look at his brother who had an eyebrow raised and his arms crossed; his entire stance saying 'Yeah. Yeah. Are we done yet?'. Castiel moved his eyes back to the floor and said under his breath "Why are you even here?"

Uriel glared at him and tilted his head to the side. "I am here to help you and it is help that you need."

"I didn't ask for your help."

"That may be true but it is undeniable that you need it. Lucifer may be a lost cause but you and your siblings are curable-"

"Curable of what!?" Castiel looked up and for the first time stared back at Uriel. Castiel was angry and scared and shaking but he wanted to be heard. "We are good. We always have been and the only time we've fallen apart was when you arrived because you… you… you fucked everything up! I know that we're not perfect and I know that we aren't ideal but we could be worse! After Father went missing Michael and Lucifer raised us and they raised us well. We've always stuck together and we've been good but you've kicked Lucifer out of a home which you don't even belong. So why are you even here?"

Uriel stood up straight and stepped towards Castiel. "I. Am. Here. To help you."

"I don't want it. I want you to leave. I don't want you to tell my brother to leave and I don't want you to threaten us anymore. This is not your home it is ours and you have no right." The confidence in which Castiel started was depleting as his eyes wondered back to the floor. "I also want to be able to see Dean without you threatening to shackle me to the house."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Castiel."

"Then you should kick me out too."

Gabriel perked up next to Cas as if he only just started listening. "Cassie…"

"I _can_ help you, Castiel. And I will and once I am done you shall be saved and you shall be respectable." Uriel reached out and placed a hand ether side of Castiel's shoulders and gripped him.

"Yes. Well. While I know there is nothing about myself that needs saving, you may deem me automatically on the road to hell." Castiel inhaled deeply and Gabriel winced slightly knowing what he was about to say and only imagining what Uriel's reaction would be. "You see, uncle Uriel, with you being a man of such strong faith I would think that you wouldn't be able to save someone who in your opinion is so far beyond saving. Homosexuality is something you consider highly sinful is it not?" The whole of Castiel's body was shaking and his palms, which were still clenched at his side, were sweating immensely and while he'd like to have believed he delivered his speech confidently, his cracking voice gave him away.

Uriel stepped back away from Castiel as if he were diseased. He turned around and ran a hand down his face. "I want you to leave this house." His voice was calm and quiet.

Gabriel frowned. "You can't do tha-"

"Leave!" Uriel had spun around and raised his voice, shouting at Castiel who stood strongly with tears falling down his face. "You are much farther beyond help than I'd first believed, Castiel. Now leave this house before you poison those in it."

"Who gives you the fucking right to do that you piece of shit!" shouted Gabriel.

Castiel pushed past him and ran for the stairs. Once he got to his room he fell apart becoming a shaking mess of tears and anger. He kicked his door closed with force before throwing his hands to his face and screaming into them. He'd never been so angry in his life and there was nothing he could do but leave the house and hope for his family to protect him.

His hands fell to his sides and he stood defeated staring blankly around his room, the odd tear falling down his cheek. He knew things would be okay eventually. He knew that he could find Lucifer and live with him and once Uriel decided enough was enough Michael would demand they return and they'd be together again like always. He'd just have to survive the pain and the anger for now and it'd all be worth it.

He used the sleeve of his coat to wipe his face before reaching under his bed and retrieving a small backpack which he then haphazardly stuffed with clothing and underwear and books. Once he'd done a sweep of his room he threw the bag over his shoulder and stomped down the stairs loudly, wanting his anger to be heard.

"Cassie! Cas, don't! What are you doing? He can't actually make you leave!" Gabriel stood in front of the front door hoping to stop him from leaving.

"Please, Gabriel. I don't want to be here if he is too."

Gabriel went to speak again but the front door being opened from the other side bumped into his back and he stopped.

"Who's in the way of the doo-" Anna fell into the house once Gabriel stepped aside and she turned her attention to Castiel who'd picked up his schoolbag and was pushing past her. "Cassie? What's going on?" She looked to Cas then to Gabriel before throwing her bags down and storming into the living room to where Uriel was still stood.

Castiel could hear her screaming at Uriel as he walked down the driveway and once he got to the street he fell apart again.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

"Yes alright, I'm comin'."

Someone knocked on the door again and Bobby rolled his eyes ans he did his best to wheel himself to the door. He hadn't quite gotten used to life in a wheelchair but it was something difficult to adapt to, after all. As long as he was alive and his boys were safe and happy then so was he.

He reached up to unlock the door and wheeled himself back to allow it to swing open and when it did he saw Castiel on his front porch looking like hell.

"You look like hell, boy. What's up?"

Cas smiled weakly and wiped his face on his sleeve for the millionth time. "I'm really sorry to disturb you, Mr Singer but I'm… erm. I'm in a bit of a mess and I was wondering if it is alright if I stay here for a bit."

Bobby looked up at him. "Not if you insist on calling me 'Mr Singer'. How many more times, boy?" Castiel smiled as Bobby wheeled back more. "Come in. Dean's over at the garage but he shouldn't be long." Once the door was closed and Cas was safely inside, Bobby shouted up for Sam who came bounding down the stairs a minute later.

"What?" Once he turned the corner and came into view of Castiel his face fell. "Cas? Are you alright? What's happened?"

"I've sort of been kicked out of my home."

Concern flooded Sam's face as he looked to Bobby. "He has to stay here! He's got to!"

"I know! Calm down. He is. Now take him upstairs and show him how the shower works. The kid's been through a lot and he looks like shit and while he's gettin' cleaned up, check Dean's room for anything growin' in it, he can stay there and don't you argue-" he pointed at Cas. "If Dean was here he'd say the same. Dean'll have my old room, god know's I'm not using it anymore."

Castiel smiled and thanked him greatly before following Sam upstairs.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

"Alright everyone! The fun can start now, I'm home." Dean kicked the front door closed behind him as he walked into the kitchen and placed his things on the table. His hands were greasy with oil after working on cars all afternoon. He loved his job at the autoshop since as an underage and under qualified minor he sure had a lot of freedom and it was giving him all the experience he needed. He was good at his job and everyone recognised it so he was able to get dirty and work directly on client's cars.

Wiping his hands down the front of his jeans he called out for Bobby. "Where is everyone?"

Dean had his face in the fridge by the time Bobby wheeled himself into the kitchen. "How was work?" he asked.

"Good." Dean stood up and closed the fridge door with a mouthful of last night's pizza. "Worked on an old 1970 Lincoln. Some collector guy bought it in, I dunno, but it was making all these noises when he did but buy the time I was done with it, boy, was it-"

"Dean, shut up."

Dean frowned. "Alright, grumpy."

"Cas is here."

"Really? Where is he? I thought he knew I was working after school."

"He's upstairs. He's been kicked out. He's in a bad sh-"

Dean didn't hear the end of Bobby's sentence due to taking off halfway through it. He took the stairs two at a time while he called for Cas. He ignored Sam who was hovering about in the hallway and went straight for his bedroom.

"Cas? Hey, Cas, what happ-" Castiel was curled up on Dean's bed, atop of the covers, fast asleep.

Dean gently closed the door behind him and leant against it, watching Castiel to make sure he hadn't woken him. He looked tired. His eyelids were a little puffy where he'd obviously been crying and even in his sleep his breathing was hitched as if he was still sobbing. His hair was damp and sticking to his forehead where he'd showered earlier, it took everything in Dean not to push it out of his face and kiss him. He was wearing his own trousers - the one's he'd worn at school- but the t-shirt was Dean's. It was an old Black Sabbath one and it was one of Dean's favourites. He couldn't help but smile.

Dean moved across the room and sat on the edge of the bed. He looked down at Cas and imagined what brought him here. It obviously had something to do with Uriel. He must've kicked Cas out in the same way he'd kicked Lucifer out the day before but Dean couldn't think why. Castiel was scared of Uriel and Dean wouldn't have thought he'd flip out in the same way as his brother. Maybe Gabriel told him about him and Dean but that seemed unlikely, the Novak's were tight and Gabriel wouldn't jeopardise Cas like that.

Dean frowned as he looked down at his friend. He poked him to try and wake him but it didn't work. He poked him again. "Cas. Cas. Cas. Wake up." He placed a hand on his shoulder and gently shook him. "Cas!" Nothing. This time he gave him a shove which caused Castiel to jump awake as he rolled onto his back, his limbs flying out in shock.

"What?" He looked around, confused. "Dean? What are you doing?"

"I live here. What else?"

Castiel looked at Dean and hurriedly sat up. "Sorry. I'm sorry. Bobby said it was fine for me to-"

"Cas! It's fine. I was joking." Dean grinned at Castiel's embarrassment before crawling up the bed to sit next to him. "What happened?"

"Uriel kicked me out."

"Yes. I know that. Why? What did you do?"

"Oh. I shouted at him for a while and eventually told him I was gay at which point he shouted back and told me to leave." Castiel's face fell and he closed his eyes as if on the verge of tears again.

Dean swung an arm around his shoulders and pulled him into his body. "Hey. Man up. It's about time. I hated that guy and you're much better off here. Sucks that you have to leave everyone else though. I'm sorry."

"It's alright" Castiel mumbled into Dean's shoulder. "I'm going to try and contact Lucifer to see if I can stay with him while Uriel's still around."

"No." Dean shook Cas so he'd look up at him. "You're staying here."

"But…"

"No. You're here and you're staying here. You have no choice. Even if I have to hold you hostage. Do I have to hold you hostage?" Dean continued to watch Castiel who's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"But… I can't trouble you like tha-"

"No!" Dean stood up quickly causing Cas to fall sideways onto the mattress without Dean there to support him. "I'll do it. I'll hold you hostage. I'll call Sam and make him help- Sammy!" He called out for his brother with a grin plastered across his face. When Sam entered Dean wrapped an arm around him and pointed at Cas who now had a smile creeping across his face. "Sammy - we may have to hold Castiel hostage."

"Why?"

"Because he believes that he'll trouble us by staying." Dean looked down at his brother then they both looked towards Cas with expressions of over exaggerated disbelief.

"We'll do it, Cas. We'll hold you hostage."

"We've done it before."

"Why do you think Bobby's in a wheelchair?"

"It's so he can't leave easily."

"Hostage."

"We have separation issues" shrugged Dean.

Castiel looked at the two brothers then laughed for what felt like the first time in ages. Sam and Dean followed and all three of them laughed until their chests hurt, Dean still with his arm around Sam.

Eventually their laughter died down into little chuckles. "Come on, Cas. You have no where else to go. We want you here" said Dean who was left with a little pleading smile.

"Alright. Thank you so much."

Dean grinned then nodded before turning to Sam. "Alright, Sammy, you've done you're job now out you go." He turned his brother around and shoved him out the door.

They heard Sam call back "Use a condom!" as Dean slammed the door shut.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

The days passed by and Castiel become comfortable in the Winchester home very quickly. Dean refused to sleep in Bobby's old room, claiming it smelt of old man when really he simply wanted to share a room with Cas. They argued for a few minutes over whether or not they should share a bed as Castiel kept insisting he was happy to sleep on the floor and Dean (a) refused to allow Cas to sleep on the floor and (b) really really wanted to share a bed with him. Obviously Dean won because Cas also really really wanted to share a bed with Dean but refused to admit it.

When it came to bedtime both boys stuck to their side of the bed until they fell asleep and found each other during the night; waking up to find their limbs entangled and at least one of them with a raging erection.

Neither of them made a move to further their relationship (whatever kind of relationship it was anyway) and they avoided the discussion of what they were to each other and whether or not they were actually _in _a relationship. Although it was undeniable that they both wanted each other they never acted upon it which made things both difficult and awkward in the mornings when one of them would hurry down the hall towards the bathroom with their hands over their crotch trying to hide their boner and during the day when they'd catch one another staring. It took everything in their strengths not to devour the other during their peaks of sexual frustration.

They did this through decency. With Castiel living under the same roof things might get weird and inappropriate between them if they were all over each other all the time. It was odd for Dean who'd usually sleep with a girl the moment he suspected she wanted him to but he just blamed it on the fact that Cas was (a) his best friend, (b) a guy and (c) living in the same house as him. But everyone (mainly Sam, seeing as Bobby hadn't quite figured out there was something between them yet) knew it was a monument to how much he actually liked Cas.

Castiel had been staying for five days - well into their Christmas vacation- when Anna knocked on the door.

Sam answered.

"Hello. Is Castiel in? I'm his sister."

Sam smiled and stepped aside to let her in, telling her to go through and find him on the sofa reading.

"Hey, Cassie." Anna smiled in the doorway as Cas looked up at her.

He threw his book down and leapt up to hug her. "Anna! What are you doing here?"

"I'm the bearer of good news. Sit down."

"Has Uriel left?" Cas back up until the edge of the sofa hit the back of his legs. He sat down. Anna followed.

"Okay. I'm the bearer of _other_ good news."

"He hasn't left?"

"Not yet. But listen." She placed her hands on his knees. "Michael's a douche. We all know that. And he's especially a douche because it's his fault Uriel's here in the first place."

"What? Why?" Castiel frowned and backed up a little.

"Listen. A while a go Michael told Lucifer that we were having money problems. Mom and Dad didn't have much to leave us and there was only so much he and Lucifer could save with their crappy jobs and us still at school. So Uriel's been lending us money. He's been happy to do it and the rich bastard has enough to spare so he hasn't asked of anything in return. Michael kept throwing a fit though saying how he'd have to pay him back but Uriel refused. Anyway, when Michael found college applications in your room-"

"He went through my room?"

"Oh please, you hardly hid them well and we all know you want to go anyway so shut up."

Castiel looked away embarrassed.

"Can you let me explain to you why Michael's a douche and share my good news?"

"Yes."

"Thank you. _Anyway_, Michael figured 'Of course Castiel wants to go to college, he's a genius' so he asked Uriel for a little bit more money - just enough to get you through college and that money he'd definitely pay back. Uriel said yes but he wants to visit first so he can see that his money is being well spent and, well, he's a religious douchebag who can't help but spread the word of God despite Michael trying and failing before him."

"Anna, can you please just get to your good news because I know how the rest of this story goes and it's not good."

"Oh my god, Cassie. I'm getting there." Anna gently hit Castiel's knee then continued. "Well after you stood up to Uriel - well done by the way- he was furious, obviously, and Michael thought that you going to college was a lost cause - there was no way Uriel would pay for it now. But, time for my good news: he is. Even though you were a dick to him and according to him you're going to hell for liking it up the butt-"

"Anna!"

"Sorry. He can't actually deny that you're a smart cookie and he still wants you to get a good education. I reckon it's because he wants you to uphold the family name but that's just me. He isn't going to tell the rest of the family you're gay, otherwise they'll lynch you for it but he is going to keep trying to make you see the light so be prepared to have him harass you again one day."

Castiel furrowed his eyebrows as he went over what Anna had just said. "So he's paying for me to go to college? Even though I shouted and cussed at him and he knows I'm gay?"

"That's the good news I came to share."

Castiel grinned and leant forward to hug his sister once again. She smiled back and hugged him too. "I think he's leaving soon. He has no reason to stay. So you can come back! We've missed you, Cassie. I know we call you everyday but it's not the same."

"I'm not coming back until he leaves."

"Hey. What's going on?" Dean entered the room, his mouth full of nachos. He stared at Anna who smiled at him. He waved back cheerfully.

"Nothing. Anna just came to tell me that Uriel's paying for me to go to college." Castiel shifted his body round to watch Dean walk further into the room and sit on the edge of the coffee table opposite the sofa Cas and Anna was sat on.

"But he hates you."

"Yeah, well, not enough apparently" said Anna. She let go of her brother and stood up. "Sorry but I only popped round to tell you. I have to go pick up my fabulous boyfriend, Ben, who you still have to meet, Cassie." She walked over to Dean before leaving to bend down and hug him. It was an awkward hug because he was sat down and eating nachos but he smiled anyway. "Thank you for looking after my brother."

"No problem. See ya round!"

Once Anna left, Dean turned to Cas and smiled. "So. College, huh?"

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\


	7. Chapter 7

**Before I say anything else. I have a massive thank you to make which is worth a million thank yous! IceFemme is bloody marvelous! She's helped me so much with this chapter and future chapters and she's just fabulous. Expect me to thank her a million times more later too. She was kind enough to read my ramblings of ideas for chapters and tell me what I was doing right and what I was doing wrong and quite a lot of stuff I have written here and in future chapters to come stem from her ideas (fabulous ideas too) so thank you! I love you. And whoever is reading this, check her out IceFemme, she's here on FF. IceFemme. That's her. She's a bloody good writer too.**

**Anyway, I want to thank everyone else too for reading and reviewing and doing anything else. You guys are fantastic and I hope you enjoy everything else I have.**

**If you've somehow stumbled into this chapter not realising it's rated M. Run now because this chapter holds 1972 words of smutty goodness so... yeah. At least I hope it's goodness.**

* * *

"So. College, huh?" Dean smiled. Or at least he tried. Obviously it wasn't convincing.

"Yes." Castiel watched Dean nod his head and inhale deeply. From looking at his expression Castiel could practically hear the cogs churning in Dean's head. He wasn't okay. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah. Fine. It's a bit weird that Uriel's paying, isn't it?"

Cas shrugged. "I suppose. But I think Anna's right when she sai-"

"Where?"

"What?"

"Where are you thinking? Is it far?"

"Oh." Cas never tore his eyes away from Dean's. Something was wrong and Cas knew fully well that any moment Dean was about to get weird, freak out and probably leave. "Well I haven't actually applied yet. I have everything I need now that Uriel has agreed to pay- granted still very odd and not without it's repercussions, I'm sure- but I was hoping Stanford."

"Hey! That's where Sammy wants to go" said Dean, a little too quickly. He looked to the floor and brought his hand up to scratch the back of his head. "California then. That's, erm… far." He continued to fidget where he was sat, muttering to himself about airplanes and distance. He kept his eyes fixed on the floor the entire time, not daring to glance up and see Castiel's expression.

"Dean. I know what's wrong. I can promise you that this wont change things and September is ages away, we still have time-"

"Nothing's wrong, Cas. I just need some air." Dean stood up and made his way through the living room and to the hall where he picked up his car keys and left.

Dean heard Cas call out to him as he closed the front door behind him.

He should have known. Should have known that Castiel was going to go off to college. Cas was smart; too smart for Dean and of course he would leave him behind, finding a new life and new friends. A new Dean.

Completely on autopilot, Dean opened the door to the Impala and pulled off, driving without a destination.

Dean'd always seen himself as average. Destined to stay in this dull town for the rest of his life. Waking up at 8am each morning and sleeping at 12. He'd never tried to accomplish anything because he knew there'd be no point. He wasn't smart. He wasn't going to go off to college and get a degree. He wasn't going to become some hotshot lawyer like Sammy probably was. He wasn't going to make anyone proud of him and he knew it. He'd forgotten all about that while in Castiel's company because Cas tended to make Dean forget a lot of bad stuff and he was happy. But now Castiel was going to leave him behind just like everyone else and it made Dean angry. Not necessarily at Cas but at himself for not trying. But it was too late. Nothing could be done and Castiel, one of the only good things he had, was leaving and he'd be alone.

As far as he saw it, Dean had two options: he could break it off with Castiel. Whatever they had, he could end it to allow himself time to get used to not having him around, not seeing him everyday, in order for the end result to hurt a hell of a lot less. Or, his second option, he could continue with the way things are. Things are good. If not a little confusing and blurred around the edges, but it's good. Castiel is the best friend Dean's had, maybe better than Jo and thats not something he should just throw away. But if he did that, what would happen in September when Cas moves, possibly to a completely different state, leaving Dean behind? Could they make things work long distance or would they slip away from each other?

Both options caused Dean to grasp the steering wheel as he inhaled in order to stop himself falling apart. Either way, he'd lose Cas.

He searched through his brain to see if there was another possibility; another option he hadn't yet thought of. He thought about Jo. Thought about what she would say in a time like this. She'd probably tell him to stop being such a girl and do what feels right but since he didn't even know what he felt he deemed that useless advice.

Dean let out a huff of annoyance as he hit the steering wheel with the palm of his hands. Why was this so difficult? He wanted someone to tell him what to do. He didn't want to have to figure this out himself, it gave him a headache and he knew whatever he'd come up with would be wrong.

He could feel his phone vibrate in his back pocket. It was probably Sam calling to find out where he was and ask him what the hell was wrong with Cas. Dean could only imagine how he'd be an emotional mess right now.

Lifting his hips up from the seat, Dean fidgeted until he had retrieved his phone from his back pocket. He held it up by the wheel so he could drive and read the caller ID. The little screen lit up as it vibrated, telling him Cas was calling.

Dean frowned and pulled over as he answered the phone before it went to voicemail. "Cas?"

"_For God's sake, Dean!"_ shouted Cas at the other end.

"What?" Dean was a little taken aback by Castiel's tone.

"_You are impossible, did you know that?"_

"I… I'm just clear-"

"_Shut up. Come home. Now."_ And with that, he hung up leaving Dean surprised, confused and for some, ungodly reason, turned on. He'd never heard Cas speak like that to anyone. He'd shouted at Gabriel once for stealing his laptop to torrent porn but that was it.

Turning the car around, Dean headed home. It was his intention to clear his head which he did achieve. He wasn't skittish and angry like he was when he left the house but he was sure as hell just as confused. He still had no idea what to do. He figured he'd talk to Sammy about it later. That boy always knew what to do.

Dean had only just closed shut the car door when Cas appeared next to him, shoving him gently but with intention.

"I am not going to let this happen again!" he said.

"Hey. Hey, Cas. Calm down."

"No. Do you know how much of your shit I've had to put up with?"

Dean blinked at him for a few seconds. Whenever Castiel swore, you knew he was pissed. "Err…"

"First it was because you were having some sort of identity crisis- Okay that was fair enough but then it was because you were worried that I hadn't enjoyed dry-humping you on the sofa-"

"Cas. Keep your voice down, would you?"

"And now you're throwing some sort of emotional fit because I'm leaving for college. Dean, it's fine that you're freaking out! It is but what is not fine it you running away from everything instead of talking!"

Dean frowned and found himself irrationally angry. He knew Castiel was right but he hated being accused of being wrong. He knew himself better than anyone, he knew how to deal with himself when he's upset. Often what he does to help himself is the long way round of getting things sorted but it always gets sorted, right? "Fine! You want to talk then lets talk!"

Dean turned around and stormed into the house, looking over his shoulder briefly to check Cas was following, which he was.

Neither of them even acknowledged Bobby as they pushed past him to the stairs to Dean's room. Dean entered first and Cas was quick to follow, slamming the door behind him.

"I don't understand, Dean! How am I meant to understand when you pick up and leave instead of staying and explaining!?"

"You may not have realised, but I am _shit_ at this stuff. I told you this before so why the fuck is it such a surprise now?"

"Because I hoped you'd learn by now that you can't just run from things!"

Dean crossed the room and leant on the windowsill, anger radiating from his body. "I'm not running. In fact, I'm doing quite the opposite. When September rolls around and you're off in California, being a typical college student, drinking and fucking every guy who looks at you, I am going to be _stuck_ here going no where and I-"

"Are you even listening to yourself right now?" Castiel talk a few steps in Dean's direction. Dean had never seen before how when Cas is angry, he's on the verge of scary. The authority in his voice made Dean feel five-years-old again. "Is that seriously what you're scared about?"

"I'm not scared." Dean turned his gaze to the floor, his voice that of a stubborn child.

"Dean…" Cas' voice calmed down a significant amount and he stepped in closer to Dean. They were now only a few feet apart. "...You may not have noticed that I don't have friends. I have you. That's it. So you must be mad to think that I'm going to dump you and leave you when I leave school."

"So I'm just supposed to sit on my ass and wait for you while you're at college? I'm shit at relationships when we're in the same house, do you really expect me to be good with them when the other person is in a different state?"

"Stop being so stubborn!"

"I'm not!"

Castiel threw his arms up in defeat and turned around, walking away and perching himself on the edge of the bed. "You're impossible. So impossible" he muttered as he brought his hands to his face. He felt emotionally drained and they'd only been arguing for a few minutes.

"You don't know what's going to happen when you go! So why even bother!?" Dean raised his voice in frustration. He was scared Cas would give up on him so he shouted to make himself known, to make himself impossible to forget about.

"No, I don't know! And that seems to be a running theme here, Dean." Castiel's arms fell from his face and flopped into his lap. His massive blue eyes stared at Dean and Dean felt guilty. "Because I don't even know what _this_ is. You make things so unnecessarily complicated for no reason. I don't know if I should call you my boyfriend or just my friend. I don't know if I'm allowed to kiss you anymore."

Dean looked away. He couldn't look at Cas anymore. He was right. He'd fucked up so many times with so many things. He was too complicated. He wanted to be able to talk about what he wanted, his feelings, without feeling too embarrassed to do so. So he closed his eyes and spoke without thinking about what he was saying. "Everyone is going to leave me. Jo, Ash and even Sammy eventually. And I hate it. I don't want to be left behind and I completely forgot that one day you'd leave me too. So I'd rather have you leave now because if you don't it'll hurt ten times more later and I don't know how to deal with that and I'll have to deal with it by myself."

Cas inhaled slowly and remained quiet. He didn't know what to say so he said nothing.

"Tell me what to do, Cas. Because I have no idea."

Castiel chewed on his bottom lip and nodded. "Well firstly, don't keep things like that to yourself and don't you dare run off again whenever you're scared. We will get nowhere if you keep doing so and aside from that, it's just annoying."

Dean smiled weakly.

"Secondly, we need to figure what's going to happen when I leave. But I don't want to do that now. I don't think we should. Not yet anyway because I haven't even been accepted into college yet. I haven't even applied!"

Dean nodded.

"And thirdly… I really want to know what we are. I want… I want to be able to be with you. Properly. No blurry boundaries or anything." Castiel took a deep breath as he spoke, almost as if readying himself for Dean to say 'Just friends' because even though it wouldn't make sense, Castiel would never be that lucky.

When Dean didn't speak for a minute or two Castiel pressed his lips together and looked down to idly play with the hem of his shirt. He wanted to distract himself from getting too upset over something he knew he'd never actually have.

But then Dean finally looked up and smiled. "You're hot when you're angry." His smiled grew wider as he watched the emotions dance across Castiel's face. Shock. Confusion. Disbelief. Realisation. Disbelief (again). Happiness.

Dean stood up and in four strides he was in front of Castiel and he was placing a hand under his chin to lift it up. Then he was bending down and pressing his lips to Cas'.

Castiel wasted no time in grabbing the back of Dean's neck and dragging him down. They shuffled up the bed and immediately became a mess of tangled limbs and incoherent noises.

Weeks of frustration was being poured into a single kiss making it the roughest, hottest Dean had ever experienced. Cas was kissing him with such force it was as if he was spilling everything he had, every moment of anger and desperation he'd felt, into the pores of Dean's skin with every touch. Every contact of lips on lips, fingertips on skin, lips on skin was as far from gentle as Cas could manage and Dean was lapping it up. He was begging for more as he wrapped his arm around Castiel's waist, turning them over so Dean was flat on his back with Cas hovering over him. Dean leant up and ran his fingers through the soft mess of hair on Castiel's head and yanked it back to expose his throat which he pressed what felt like a hundred kisses to. He ran his other arm around Castiel's back and his hand settled on his shoulder. He pressed him as close to his chest as he possibly could, too scared to let go, while pulling him into his lap, attempting to get as much friction there as possible.

Once Dean let go of Castiel's hair - his hands finding new places to roam- Cas went straight to tugging at Dean's shirt, trying to get it over his head with such desperation he nearly tore it. There was a flurry of hands and fabric then both boys were shirtless, pressing their naked chests together as they hungered for the feel of skin-on-skin.

Cas laid his hands flat against Dean's chest before pushing him back to lay flat on the mattress, his head hitting the pillow with a dull thump. Whilst running his hands across Dean's abdomen Cas started to rock his hips against Dean's causing them both to moan helplessly.

"Dean… please. I want more. I-"

Dean took no time in flipping them over so he lay in between Castiel's legs and eagerly undoing both their belts at the same time then hooking his fingers in the waistband of Cas' jeans and underwear, pulling them down his thighs. Cas had to kick them off once they got past his knees as Dean became far too preoccupied by running his nose down Castiel's belly, stopping just above the head of his cock so he could look up through his eyelashes, captivating Cas' gaze before opening his mouth and taking him in.

Castiel let his head fall back against the pillow as Dean swirled his tongue around him. He couldn't help but buck his hips into Deans mouth which deserved him Dean's forearm across his hips to stop him doing it again.

The sounds flowing from Castiel's mouth almost had Dean coming in his pants. He palmed at his crotch with one hand while the other was trying to stop Cas gagging him too much and was something that Cas wouldn't stop fighting against, he was writhing beneath Dean, clutching at his hair with one hand while the other was tangled in the sheets all while he was begging out loud to be fucked.

Dean nearly chocked when the words fell from Cas' mouth. He looked up and blinked in disbelief.

"Cas, you sure?"

"I swear to god if you don't fuck me I'll never touch you again."

That was all Dean needed to hear. With one last run of his tongue along the underside of Castiel's cock he climbed up his body, depositing kisses along his skin as he went and finally pressing his lips against his for a messy, desperate kiss while he blindly reached out for his bedside table, pulling the top drawer open and rummaging around for a condom and the bottle of lube he recently acquired.

Meanwhile Cas was all over Dean. His hands exploring every run of ribs and every notch of bone along his spine. He reached down to push Dean's pants off as far as he could before Dean wriggled out of them himself. Dean took the opportunity of having his cock finally free by pressing his hips into Castiel's, wrapping his hand around both of them and pumping slowly. He rested his forehead against Castiel's shoulder and looked down their bodies to watch himself jerk them both off with one hand. The purely pornographic noises escaping from Castiel's mouth was hard to ignore especially when he repeated Dean's name over and over again, rocking his hips into the motion and digging his fingers into Dean's biceps.

"Dean. _Please_."

Dean pressed a kiss to Cas' shoulder before sliding back down his body, taking the lube with him. He allowed his forehead to rest against the inside of Cas' knee as he popped open the cap and squeezed a generous amount onto his fingers, never taking his eyes of Cas. He reached out and watched his fingers dance around Castiel's entrance. He'd never done this before. He knew the mechanics, obviously, but he'd never put it into practice and he found himself not worrying if he'd do anything wrong but worrying if Cas will enjoy it. His eyes locked with Castiel's once more before slowing entering a finger into him. He watched Cas' face as it became stiff with the invasion then relax after a few seconds once he'd gotten used to the sensation. He could feel Dean's hesitation as he moved his finger around, then pausing for what felt like forever before entering another. Cas' back arched a little as he felt Dean explore him, unsure of what he was doing but picking up speed anyway, slowing fucking Cas with his hand.

The moment Dean hit what he was looking for, he knew. Cas' reaction had been to practically scream Dean's name and reach out to grab his shoulder, digging in his fingernails into him.

"Please. I n-need you." Cas' voice was breathy and desperate and he only had Dean's fingers. Dean smiled in anticipation of what's to come.

Making sure to stretch Cas out a little more, Dean scissored his fingers before entering a third. He made quick work of it only because Cas was becoming so damn impatient.

"Cas, are you su-"

"Don't you dare ask me if I'm sure about this, Dean Winchester. I've wanted this for s-so long."

Castiel reached out and pulled Dean into a messy kiss while he searched around for the condom which was lost amongst the sheets. Once he'd found it he broke the kiss for a second and ripped open the packaging with his teeth then pressed his lips against Dean's once again. Dean closed his eyes as he felt Castiel roll the condom onto his cock, albeit a little awkwardly with inexperience, and Dean was shaking; he couldn't quite figure out if it was due to nerves or anticipation but whatever it was, it was good. He was about to ask Cas if he was ready but thought against it since he didn't want to receive another scowl so instead he smiled and positioned himself at Cas' entrance. He softly ran his hands up and down Cas' arm as he pushed in, resting his forehead on the other boys shoulder and breathing slowly. Neither of them were going to last for very long.

It took a minute for Cas to adjust to the entirely new sensation but as soon as he did he was shifting his hips underneath Dean, letting him know to move without using words by bringing his legs up and pushing Dean into him more by squeezing.

The grin plastered across Dean's face would usually have him embarrassed during sex but this time he simply couldn't help it. He had both his arms wrapped around Cas who was falling apart beneath him with each thrust and he held him tighter. He'd never have thought he'd be this close to anyone before and while he couldn't express it through words he was sure to do it through his actions. He pressed their foreheads together once more and stared into the abyss of Castiel's eyes, running his hands all over his body and stopping at his hips to dig his fingers into and steady them making each thrust of his own more accurate, helping him hit the spot he needed to to make Cas a hot mess of panting and moans.

Castiel squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated on the feeling of Dean's cock hitting his prostate over and over again and on the sound of Dean above him, breathing heavily with the occasional accidental moan and slip of Castiel's name. Cas wasn't as reserved when it came to shameless sex noises and it took everything in Dean's power not to come from simply listening to them. Every breath that passed Cas' lips were paired with a groan of pure pleasure or helpless begging, even when he had his mouth pressed to Dean's he moaned in rhythm to Dean's movements.

"D-Dean. I need you t-to- Oh God! Touch me. Dean." Castiel's words were breathless and desperate. His hands settled on Dean's shoulders in order to pull him closer to his body despite the fact there wasn't a millimeter between them. It was as if nothing he could do could satisfy his need to cling to Dean and never let go.

Dean had the same issue.

He wanted to remove one of his hands from being wrapped around Castiel's waist and bring it to his cock to stroke him, to touch him but he couldn't bring himself to let go. It was as if he needed to hold on for dear life because whenever he opened his eyes and saw Castiel's flushed cheeks, his mouth open and begging, his hair sticking to his forehead from sweat, he never wanted to see anything else. And as cliché and pathetic as it sounded, he wanted to stay like this forever, with Castiel and have no one else disturb them and he couldn't help but think that come September this will be gone and he'll be left broken. So as he clung to Cas, rutting into him until every muscle hurt, he promised himself he wouldn't let that happen. If there was one thing he deserved, it was Cas.

Dean closed his eyes and finally removed his arm from Castiel's waist and brought his hand in between them to wrap it around Cas' cock. He smiled into Castiel's shoulder as he felt him arch his back and practically scream in pleasure. Dean kissed Cas roughly in hope to silence him (Sam and Bobby were still in the house after all) and it became a deep kiss of tongue and teeth and gasps and Dean felt the familiar feeling of heat building up around his abdomen as his orgasm began building quickly. Tightening his grip around Cas' cock and pumping faster, Dean pressed his mouth to Castiel's shoulder to stifle his moans because _now_ was the moment he became vocal. He took all the energy he had left to thrust his hips into Cas one final time with some force, making sure to hit him where it mattered before exhaling a shaky breath as he tried to breathe through his orgasm, his hips becoming a jittery mess.

It took three more pumps of Castiel's cock before he too was coming, his back arched as far as possible, his head lulled back into the pillow. He had his bottom lip caught in his teeth in an attempt to stop himself from screaming Dean's name.

They both laid there for a few minutes, tired, hot, and sweaty, Castiel's fingertips ghosting across the skin of Dean's back, without saying a word. They both just smiled. Dean pressed his lips into the crook of Cas' neck before finally moving to sit up and pull out. He sat back on his heels and looked down at his best friend who was sheening with sweat and panting. He'd brought one arm over his face to cover his eyes but left his grin for Dean to see.

Once Dean had cleared himself up and threw an old t-shirt at Cas to use to clean himself too, he laid back down on the bed alongside Cas, bringing the blanket up from the foot of the bed to cover them both.

"I don't think I'm going to be able to walk for days" said Dean as he buried his face into the mattress by Cas' arm.

"You? What about me?" Dean chuckled. "Anyway, I think we can justify not getting out of bed for a very long time."

Dean nodded and closed his eyes. He could feel Castiel's fingertips brushing his side and he smiled at the contact. He needed to think of a fantastic way to make this all okay when Cas goes off to college. He didn't know what it was yet but he knew it would be fantastic.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

They were both woken eight hours later by the shrilling sound of Castiel's phone ringing out from somewhere in the room. It was 9am.

Cas kicked the blanket off him and stood up from the bed to find it, leaving Dean sleepy and tangled in sheets on the bed. The moment Cas straightened up he immediately hunched over again and reached out for the bedside table to steady himself. "I hate you, Dean. I actually cannot walk straight."

Dean laughed at him and opened his eyes to watch him search for his phone amongst the mess of clothing and general crap in Dean's room. Cas finally found it under the bed and he answered it as he sat on the floor, facing Dean with a fake expression of annoyance. Dean winked and turned over onto his back, smiling.

"Hello? Gabriel?"

Dean turned his head to watch Cas on the phone. He could hear Gabriel on the other end shouting down the phone with ecstatic glee. It would appear Uriel's gone.

Cas wasn't on the phone long and when he hung up he was beaming. He knelt up and crawled back into bed alongside Dean who stretched an arm out for Cas to slide into. Once Cas was laid out next to Dean's body, Dean used his arm to squish Cas in closer and kiss him on the forehead. Cas smiled.

"I didn't have you down as one to cuddle."

"Yeah. Tell anyone and I'll kill you. Has Uriel left then?"

Cas nodded. "Michael wants me home today."

"I don't want you home today. Just stay." Dean closed his eyes, far too tired for much interaction.

"It's Christmas Eve tomorrow. I do need to spend some time with my family especially now that Uriel has _finally_ left."

"Stay. I'm more fun."

Cas nuzzled his face into Dean's neck and smiled against his skin. "I'll come round tomorrow."

Taking an over exaggerated sigh, Dean turned his head to be able to kiss Cas on the lips. "Fine. I'm having a shower." Dean crawled over Cas to get out of bed where he then straightened himself up and strode out the room and across the hall towards the bathroom, still very much naked.

Cas laughed when he heard Sam shouting "Oh my God, Dean! What the fuck is wrong with you! Put on some pants!"

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

Cas left by mid-morning and Dean couldn't help but think the house felt that bit more empty.

He was sat on the sofa in the living room watching _Dr. Sexy M.D_, his guilty pleasure TV show when Sam flopped down next to him.

"I heard you arguing with Castiel last night" he stated while he tried to wrestle the remote from Dean.

"Oh yeah? We're fine now, though. SAM, we're not changing the channel! Stop trying to take the remote!"

"Oh yeah? Well I also heard you have sex so give me the remote!"

Dean let go instantly and turned to face the TV feeling a little mortified.

"It's fine, Dean. Not the me-hearing-you-have-sex-with-your-best-friend thing, _that's_ not fine but everything else is. I like Castiel. And he does you good so…" Sam shrugged.

"I know. You've said." Dean had to admit he did feel a little awkward especially in the knowledge that his brother heard him have the best sex of his life. But he was very good at playing it cool. So he played it cool.

"I know. I'm saying it again. What were you two arguing about, anyway?" After flicking through the tv channels, Sam settled on some documentary about moose in Canada. Dean frowned as it wasn't worth switching from Dr Sexy for.

"He's going off to college and I freaked."

"As usual."

"As usual."

"What are you going to do?"

"Figure something out. He wants to go to Stanford, like you."

Sam grinned. "That's so cool! He can show me around when I get there."

"_If_ you get there."

"_When_ I get there."

"Whatever. I'm just trying to figure out what I can do. I don't want to lose him and I know I will when he leaves. I don't do long distance. It's impossible."

"Then don't do long distance."

"How can I not do-" Dean sat up. "Sammy! Brilliant idea! It might be a little mad but we'll go with it. I need your laptop!" Dean stood up and ran upstairs to find Sam's computer. He heard Sam shout something like 'What's wrong with yours' but he didn't stop to shout back. Instead he opened Google.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

Christmas day came and went relatively quickly. Christmas wasn't much of a big deal for the Winchesters or the Novaks. For them, Christmas was about family and both Families had just that. It was a day of laughter and fun with the few people that mattered to them.

Dean went round to see Castiel in the evening and Cas couldn't help but notice Dean was acting weird. Happy. But weird. Like he was buzzing with excitement but he had no clue as to what that could be. So he shrugged it off and subtly took Dean up to his room for a few hours.

Dean continued to act weird for a few days after as well and while Cas wasn't complaining because, really, it put Dean in a good mood, he felt as if something was up and whenever he'd ask Dean about it, he'd just receive a smile and a kiss and that would be it.

It was January the 4th when Balthazar came into Castiel's room clasping an already opened brown envelope with Cas' name on it. After scorning his uncle for opening it without his permission, Cas pulled out the contents and read over it slowly.

"This… This is an acceptance."

"Sure is, kiddo. You're going to college. We're proud of you, Cassie. I'm a bit pissed off that you're leaving me with this madhouse but I'm proud all the same."

"I… I can't believe…"

"I know. Madness isn't it? Everyone downstairs knows. Gabriel wrestled the thing out of my hands when I was reading it."

Castiel looked up and gave Balthazar a frown of annoyance who simply shrugged. "Can you leave for a second? I'll be down in a minute, I want to call Dean."

"Alright, hurry up though. Michael's dead excited to shower you with words of love and other soppy brother-y shit. Tell your boyfriend I said hello."

Cas didn't even listen to his uncle as he left. He was too busy pressing speed dial for Dean's phone. He picked up on the second ring.

"_Hey, Cas."_

"Dean. Don't freak out and run away, I will find you if you do, but… I just got accepted to Stanford." Dean was quiet on the other end. Cas sat and bit his lip nervously wondering if Dean was thinking of places to run to. "I just thought you should know first. Or you _would_ have known first had my family not opened my mail but anyw-"

"_I'll be over in five minutes." _And with that, Dean hung up.

Cas placed his phone on his bed a little bit confused. Dean didn't sound angry or pissed off or anything negative. He shrugged and went downstairs to receive his 'We're so proud of you' hugs.

Dean arrived five minutes later as promised and Michael opened the door.

"Dean."

"Mikey. Is Cas there?"

"Yes, he's just gone back upstairs. Dean, I wanted to talk to you very quickly."

"Yeah? Can I come inside while you do it?"

Michael nodded and moved aside to let Dean in. "I wanted to thank you. Properly. For taking in Castiel in his time of need. I know it was wrong for me to have let him go so easily but you understand what the situation was and I-"

"Hey man, it's fine. If some douchebag was helping out my little brother, I'd let him walk all over me too."

"Yes. Yes well, thank you. While I had my reservations about you at first, I've come to see you as a very nice young man. And I'm glad Castiel has someone like you. I may not one-hundred-percent approve of Castiel's life choice I'm happy that he has you to help him. You're the best choice he could have made."

"I… err. You know about u-?"

"Yes, Dean. I'm not blind. I'm also not deaf. I'd like to ask you to keep your activities with my brother quiet when you're in my house. If you can't do that, don't do it at all." Michael nodded a final time and turned around to enter the kitchen.

Dean stood for a few seconds, a little dumbstruck before gathering himself again and running up to Castiel's bedroom.

"Dude, your brother just totally outted me. Also-" he knocked on the wall "- these walls aren't as thick as we first thought. Need to keep the volume down." He closed the bedroom door before striding across the room and placing a gentle kiss on Castiel's lips.

"Hello, Dean."

"Hey. So, erm. Good news about Stanford, right?" Dean sat on Castiel's bed with his legs crossed opposite Cas who was sat with his back against the headboard.

"Yes. If I'm honest I'm surprised you're taking it so well. Are you intoxicated?"

"No. In fact, I'm going to sit here and talk. Not because you said I should but because I want to and I have a fantastic idea and I want you to hear it."

Castiel tilted his head to the side in confusion. "Okay… Whatever it is, was it Sam's idea first?"

"No! No it was not."

"I believe you." Castiel smirked.

"No you don't. Anyway. I have this idea and it's mad and I haven't spoken to anyone else about it yet because well, I need to talk to you about it first. Alright?"

Cas stared back at Dean with wide eyes. He was panicking a little bit but only because Dean was acting so out of character. "Alright."

"What if… What if I came to California with you? What if I got a job at a garage and my own place? I've looked into it. I can afford it if I work my ass off over the summer and if I continue working my ass off while I'm there. I've even emailed a few garages in the area explaining the situation and two have said they're happy to take me on if I give them good references and impress them and shit. There are cheap apartments that are probably shitholes but I'm not fussy. I can even be there for when Sammy graduates and gets in to Stanford because he will because he's a genius and he can live with me and it'll be like it is now again and I'm aware that I've been rambling so I'm going to stop talking now." Dean inhaled after talking so much in a short amount of time and exhaled a shaky breath. He sat watching Cas take in what Dean had just said nervously. He'd been looking into this for days and it all made sense in his head. It was just if Cas agreed.

"Are you serious?" Cas said after a few more minutes of silence.

"I know it's ridiculous. But yes."

"It's mad."

"I know."

"You have to do it."

A grin started to spread across Dean's face. "I know."

"I love you."

The grin was replaced by a much smaller one as an expression of shock took over Dean's face. He felt his tummy go warm as it did a flip and his heart raced. His smile grew again once he'd processed what Cas had just said. "...I know." He leant in and placed a hand on the side of Castiel's face then kissed him softly.

Dean was terrified. He'd never been more scared in his life but God knew he was happy.


	8. Chapter 8

**Again, I'm going to thank IceFemme as I probably am in all my chapters. She's just wonderful.**

**This chapter is a wee bit shorter than usual because I wanted to get it up before I lost the will to write as I very nearly did. Which is why it may also seem a bit rushed and there's a lot of dialogue. But I had to get this story moving and this is how. I also couldn't be arsed to proof-read it so sorry if there are any mistakes. **

**I love you all for reviewing/following. You mean the world. Keep 'em coming. Your reviews make me better (I like to think so anyway)**

* * *

Dean was disappointed when school started up again. He wanted the freedom of going round Castiel's as often as he wanted and he couldn't get that now that the new semester started and while he was able to physically see Cas just as often, the fact they were on school grounds restricted their activities by quite a lot.

After he told Cas about his amazing idea to join him in California, Castiel was over the moon. He wasn't only happy because if Dean went through with it, he'd be able to have his best friend and boyfriend with him but the gesture itself meant more to Cas than anything. Before he met Dean the biggest gesture someone had made was when Kevin Tran offered to help with his math revision. The fact that Dean was willing to move to a different state for him had Cas nearly in tears with happiness and the most he could do to show how much it meant to him was give Dean some of the best nights of his life. He wanted to do so much more but there wasn't a lot he could do without throwing a parade in his name.

Dean hadn't spoken to Bobby or Sam about his idea yet. He knew they'd support him and he knew Sammy would be happy. Although they wouldn't be able to see each other every day, which in all honestly killed Dean, it would be worth it when Sam goes to Stanford himself and they can be together again, hopefully in the same apartment. Bobby would just be happy that Dean's getting out of the hole he's dug.

And Dean was happy he'd have a way to escape from that hole. He'd spent his whole life digging thinking he'd never have to leave and he would have been miserable living it. He never wanted to be stuck and before he met Cas that was where he was headed. But now he had something he wanted to do even if it involved moving away from everything he knew and the only two family he had. He knew that it would be for the better though. And if he went through with it, which he was fully planning to, he'd have Cas to support him and that's all he needed.

That didn't mean Dean wasn't shit scared though. He'd never been so scared in his life, not just because he'd be moving, as long as Sammy promised to join them once he finished high school he'd be alright, but because of what he was getting into with Cas. When Cas told him he loved him Dean internally freaked. He'd never heard anyone tell him that before and he had to constantly remind himself not to run away. He'd never done commitment before and he never thought his relationship with Cas as committing before Cas came out with the big 'L' word. He didn't say it back and that was alright because Cas didn't expect it but now Dean couldn't help but over think everything. He took extra note of how he acted around Cas and how Cas acted around him. During sex he'd realise how he'd hold Cas close to his body and how he'd stare into his eyes and simply get lost while Cas moved in his lap. He'd catch himself smiling as he watched Cas go about his daily routine. He'd leave out his favorite band t-shirts for Cas to wear because it was a reminder that he was his. The more Dean thought about it, the more he realised he loved Cas back. Although he wasn't quite ready to admit it to Cas. Or anybody else. Or himself for that matter. Just another fatal flaw of being Dean Winchester.

They'd been back at school for a week now. And it was still as hellish as Castiel remembered. The Christmas vacation had been a much needed break away from it but now that they were back, school had taken back over his life.

It was a Tuesday. He and Dean had gym together first period and he was grateful that Dean had joined Cas in his routine of changing after everyone else because now it meant he didn't have to change alone anymore. It had nothing to do with the fact he could sneak glimpses of Dean as he changed. Nothing at all…

Coach Turner allowed Cas to sit on the bleachers and pretend to partake only when it became necessary. So he sat alone, quite happily, and read a book on the civil war occasionally looking up to see Dean running across the basketball court, his shirt and loose shorts riding up as he jumped in hope of getting the ball into the hoop.

Every now and then Dean would look up at him and they catch each others eyes. Dean would wink and Cas would grin and look down at his book once more then Dean would get back into the game. He lost count of how many times he nearly had a basketball to the face because he was too busy glimpsing over to Cas.

It was an unspoken agreement that they keep their relationship on the down low at school. If anyone outside of their small group of friends knew about them they'd receive hassle and that wasn't something they both wanted. Cas didn't want to fuel Alistair's bullying and Dean didn't want his name smeared in the mud. Although he didn't tell Cas that.

Dean stepped out of the game for a minute to grab some water and sit with Cas. He was halfway to the bleachers when he was stopped by Lisa Braeden.

"Dean Winchester. It's been a while." Her sickeningly sweet smile made Dean wince a little bit.

"Hey, Lisa. What's up? I thought you were meant to be inside playing volleyball or something."

"Oh I was. I just thought I'd come out here and do a little cheering for the boys." She giggled then touched his naked arm playfully. Dean stared down at her, one eyebrow raised and stepped to the side.

"Yeah, okay. Nice talking again." He tried to get back on course to Cas but she followed him.

"So, Dean. I've been thinking of how much _fun_ we used to have and how we haven't hung out in a while. We should, you know, _hang out_ sometime soon." Dean squinted at her as he processed what she had just said. He found it hard to believe he used to like her. He looked away from her and up at Cas who practically had his face pressed to his book with interest and smiled. He looked back down at Lisa who twirling a strand of hair around her finger and he grimaced. "I'm free tomorrow night?"

"Erm. Thanks but no thanks. I'm, um, I'm out with Cas tomorrow." Dean placed a hand on her shoulder as he tried to walk around her.

"Oh. How about Thursday?"

"Sorry, Lis, I can't." He looked over his shoulder as he managed to leave her behind.

"Some other time, then?" She shouted out to him.

He waved her off as he climbed the bleachers to Cas who hadn't even noticed he was approaching.

"Good book then, nerd?"

Cas' head shout up in surprise. "Oh. Yes. It is." He smiled up at Dean who was stood over him a little sweaty from playing. Cas leant down to grab a water bottle at his feet which he handed to Dean.

"Thanks, man." He sat down a little too closely to Cas and watched the rest of his class play.

"You aren't playing?"

"Nah. Only got ten minutes left anyway."

"I like watching you play."

Dean grinned. "Of course you do. I'm running around in the sun, I'm sweaty and I'm in shorts."

"You think very highly of yourself, don't you?"

"Only because it's true. Come on, let's go. There's no point staying out here. Might as well get changed now."

Dean stood up and started climbing down the bleachers leaving Cas to close his book and hop on after him.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/

Dean carried his tray through the crowd in the cafeteria and made his way to his usual table where he saw Gabriel, Jo, Ash and Pam already sat down.

"Hey, where's Cassie?" asked Gabriel who pushed Jo along so Dean could sit next to him.

"Erm, library. He wanted to get some report done for history class. I don't know." He stopped paying attention to his friends the minute he started eating. Pizza day at school was always a good day.

A few minutes passed of idle chatter. Jo told the group of her acceptance letter to some College just outside Kansas. Dean hadn't told them he wanted to go with Cas to California yet. He'd tell them once he cleared it with Sam and Bobby.

"So, Dean. How's it going with Cas?" Pam leant into the table to ask Dean who had his mouth stuffed too much with food.

He only just about managed to get out the word 'Good' through his food. Jo leant back and swung an arm at him for eating with his mouth full. He chewed loudly before swallowing just to spite her.

"I still find it weird, man. They get up to stuff while I'm still in the house and let me tell you, the walls are fucking thin." Gabriel shook his head in disgust as if to shake the mental images from his head.

"We're not that bad."

"You really are. It's gross."

"Oh come off it Gabe. I think it's sweet." Jo smiled as he put a can of diet coke to her lips.

"Thank you, Jo."

Ash perked up as his eyes followed someone moving behind Dean. "Guys, look out. Lisa Braeden at one o'clock."

Everyone turned to watch as she approached them, smiling. She had faded from their group ever since Castiel became part of it since she disliked not only him but the fact they were associating themselves with the loser of the year. She still spoke to them every now and then but only when she wanted something. They couldn't only guess that now was one of those times.

"Hello, everyone."

"Hey, Lisa." Jo spoke up first. It was easy to say she was the kindest of the group.

"So. I had a _really_ good idea." She sat next to Ash as she spoke, doing that thing that Dean hated where she played with the ends of her hair. "We need to blow off some steam, guys. Before exams and stuff kick in and the most perfect way of doing that is to go to my parents cabin out of town by the big lake. What do you think?"

"You're inviting us to spend a weekend at your parents cabin?"

"Well obviously my parents wont be there." She turned to look directly at Dean. "Which will make it all the more fun."

"I err.. I have a very busy schedule. When?" Ash crossed his arms as he spoke.

"In two weekends time? The weather will be cool enough to get warm and cosy in the cabin but not too cold for a midnight dip in the lake. It'll be perfect."

"Who else is coming?"

"Well, you guys. All of you. And a few more of my people." She leant in on her elbows and not-so-subtly ran her eyes over Dean.

"That actually sounds quite cool." Jo shrugged. In all honesty, it could be fun.

Gabriel glared at Lisa before deciding Jo was right. "I'm in if everyone else is."

After a few minutes of exchanging looks everyone at the table nodded at each other and accepted, giving their thanks to Lisa for inviting them. Dean hadn't said anything yet. They all turned to him for an answer.

"Only if Cas can come too."

"Really? That gay kid from the start of the year?"

"Yeah. And he's still around so…" Dean practically spat out his words.

"I don't know. He's such a loser-"

"Then count me out." Dean went to stand up before Lisa stuck her hands out and sat him down again.

"Fine! Okay. Okay. Your friend can come as well."

"Thank you. Very kind of you, Lisa. I'll let him know later." Dean attempted to pull off the most obviously fake smile he could.

She tried her best to genuinely smile at him. "Yes. Well. I have to head off. I'll talk to you guys later!" She spoke sweetly before standing and walking away from the group.

"That was nice of her to invite us." Jo finished off the rest of her diet coke and looked around at her friends so someone to speak.

"Yeah. But we all know she's done it so she can try to get into Dean's pants" scoffed Gabriel. "You did all see how she was mentally undressing him, right?"

"Well Dean'll have someone getting into his pants but it wont be Lisa. Right, Dean?" Ash winked at him and grinned.

"Please tell me you're not talking about my brother!" Gabriel frowned and pushed his lunch tray away from him.

"Lisa _definitely_ wont be getting into my pants. However I can't make the same promise concerning Cas. Sorry, Gabe." Dean stood up and patted Gabriel on the back who had his head on the table screaming how he's going to avenge his little brother's virginity.

"Where are you going?" asked Pam.

"Library. I wanna see Cas before the end of lunch. See you guys!" He waved them off before leaving the cafeteria and making his way to the library.

He knew Cas would be sat along the back on the round table in the corner. He preferred it there. It was quiet and out of the main stream of students wondering around helplessly.

Dean rarely entered the library. Only if it was to join either his brother or boyfriend. He didn't know how he'd go about finding books. He made his way to the back and saw Cas sat by himself with papers and notes strewn across the table in front of him. As he got closer he smiled noticing that there was something different about him.

"What is on your face?" He slid in next to him laughing a little.

Cas looked up and raised his eyebrows. His hands came up to his face to adjust his glasses. "They're glasses, Dean."

"Why have I never seen them before."

Castiel tilted his head a little. "Because they're relatively new and I rarely wear them."

Dean reached out and plucked them off his face leaving Cas blinking feeling disgruntled. They were nice. They were black and square. The rims were fairly thick and they were a decent size but not too big. Dean looked through them as he put them on. "You're blind."

"I'm really not."

"Have you not been seeing stuff in HD before you got these then?"

"Excuse me?"

"I mean, when you're not wearing them, am I blurry? Because I am a specimen that needs appreciating and you should definitely always see me in HD."

"You have narcissistic tendencies. Did you know that?" Cas smiled at Dean who was still wearing the stolen glasses.

"Probably. Hey, I came here to ask you something. Well, not so much ask but put you in the know since you're not allowed to say no."

"Alright…"

"Not this weekend, or the next but the one after _that_ we're all going to Lisa Braeden's cabin by the lake outside town for the weekend."

"No."

"What?"

"No. She heavily dislikes me and I dislike her. I don't want to be in her company and I don't want to be in a cabin she owns so she has the right to dictate me. No."

Dean slouched back in his chair. "Right well it's her parents cabin if that helps…" Cas shook his head. "And it'll be fun. She wont bother you. Please, Cas."

"I'm sorry, Dean." Cas turned back to his work and tried his best to ignore Dean who was now spreading his arms across the desk in a strop.

"Please, Cas. I promise it'll be fun and I don't want to go if you don't. Beside, you have to be there to stop Lisa trying to make her way into my pants!" Cas glared down at Dean who had his head resting on his arms. Dean grinned as he knew he had him. Him reached out under the table and placed his hand on Cas' thigh, squeezing it gently. "We'll take the Impala and if it's shit we'll leave." Dean's eyes fell to where his hand was now running up Castiel's thigh.

"...And we could find a motel?"

"And we could find a motel." Dean sat up and scanned the room. There was no one watching them, there was no one even near them. He leant forward and pressed his lips against Castiel's, moaning into the contact. He moved his hands further up Cas' thigh until it came to cup him through his jeans.

"Dean…" Cas sighed into the kiss before pulling back. "Are you free tonight?"

"I have work after school but that's it."

"You're coming round mine later this evening."

Dean grinned and stood up. "You got it, nerd." He threw his bag over his shoulder and ruffled Castiel's fluffy hair with his hand before turning to leave.

"Dean."

He turned around back to Cas. "What?"

"You're still wearing my glasses."

As if to double check, Dean brought his hands up to his face and smiled when he felt the frames still sitting on his nose. He took them off and passed them to Cas who accepted them back. Dean gave him a quick wink before leaving.

Cas sat back in his chair and sighed. Dean had left him with a raging erection in a very public place and with class starting in less than three minutes. He'd get him back at some point.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/

As the weeks passed and the weekend in Lisa Braeden's cabin approached, that's all everyone was talking about. Ash, Pam and Gabriel were discussing how much alcohol they'd need and what props they'd need for a list of drinking games they had acquired while Jo listed off the possible other people Lisa invited since they still didn't know.

Dean didn't talk about it much although you could tell he was genuinely excited, not about being trapped in a small space with Lisa who still wont lay off him but about relaxing and spending time with his friends and Cas. And deep down he hoped it would be shit so he and Cas could escape and find themselves at a motel for the weekend, completely in each others company without having to worry about who saw them.

But it was Saturday and the weekend at Lisa's was six days away. So Cas did his best to pretend it wasn't happening until he really had to. He wasn't overly looking forward to it.

He wrapped his trench coat around him as he walked through the car park of the Roadhouse. As he did most Saturday nights, he was meeting Dean there to hang out for a while before heading over to the Winchester house.

He pushed the door open and cut through the crowd of people to sit at the bar. It was busier than usual and he couldn't quite yet see Dean. He was early after all. He looked down the bar to see Jo serving a very large, beardy man in a flannel shirt. When Ellen needed the help, Jo would do a few shifts behind the bar despite being underage. She enjoyed it though.

"Hey, Cas." Jo made her way up to him and set a diet coke in front of him. "Dean not here yet?"

Castiel shook his head and he took a sip of his drink. "I actually wanted to ask you something if that's alright?"

"Of course. Only five minutes though. The entire place will be back for a second round soon and I'm the only one behind the bar so…"

"That's fine. I just wanted to ask for some help. Only as I'm sure you know it's Dean's birthday on the 24th and I have no idea what to do for it."

"Oh God. I'd completely forgotten about that. Shit, what are we going to do?" She rested against the bar and idly swept a dishcloth across the surface making it look like she was doing something. "You should ask Sam. I'm not the person to ask, I can't think of a thing."

"And you forgot it was it birthday."

"And I forgot it was his birthday" she confirmed.

"We'll think of something" said Castiel before Jo saw customers at the other end of the bar waiting for her.

Castiel sat alone at the bar for a while sipping on his diet coke. He looked around the room and frowned when he remembered Dean still hadn't arrived. Taking his phone out of his pocket, he dialed Dean's number and listened to it ring a few times before Dean picked up.

"_Hey, Cas. Sorry I'm running late."_

"It's fine. Where are you?"

"_I'll be ten minutes, I swear. See you soon." _Dean hung up.

Cas placed his phone on the bar and fidgeted on his stool as he scanned the people in the room. The people who usually came were hunters clad in flannel shirts and caps and they all pretty much knew everyone in the bar since they were regulars, even Cas knew a few of them after coming here so often with Dean.

He liked it here. It reminded him of Dean so much in the way it smelt and the way it looked. The warn wood of the walls reminded him of the brown warn leather jacket Dean insists on wearing and the atmosphere was so relaxed that even when Dean wasn't here, it still felt as if he was present.

Cas couldn't help but smile to himself as we took another swig of his drink.

"Hey. You're Gabriel Novak's brother, right?"

Someone speaking to his left made Cas turned to face them with raised eyebrows. He sighed when he saw Bela Talbot leaning on the bar beside him.

"Yes. I am Gabriel Novak's brother."

Bela looked him up and down. "Yeah. You're the nerdy loser Dean hangs out with." Castiel frowned and shifted his eyes to his hands which were placed in his lap. It would appear that even outside of school, he's a nerd, and a loser, which is possibly the reason why it hurt twice as much. "You look different outside of school." Castiel looked down at himself and realised that he really didn't. He was wearing his scruffy faded jeans as he always did with a dark blue shirt, no different to what he usually wears, with his tan trench coat on top. He looked up at Bela questionably. "You actually look hot."

Castiel raised his eyebrows and leant back a little in surprise. "I… what?"

"Hmm. It's a shame you're such a loser though."

"That…" Cas wanted to snap at her more than anything. But bit back what ever remark he was thinking. "That's not nice." So he just turned back to his phone and hoped Dean would be here soon.

"So what are you doing here? I didn't think this was… your kind of place." Bela sat on a stool next to Cas and hitched her short skirt up higher to cross one leg over the other. Her eyes scanned the bar as she did so to see who was interested.

"I'm waiting. Dean's meeting me here." She perked up as if Cas was now worth the conversation when he said Dean's name. "I wouldn't bother though. He won't be interested."

"Oh, sweetheart. One thing you should know about Dean is that he is _always_ interested."

Castiel muttered under his breath "You want to bet?" but Bela didn't hear it. Instead she hopped off her stool and commented on how she was going to the bathroom to freshen up before Dean arrived.

"What's Bela doing here? She's never stepped a foot in this place before." Jo came up to him and handed him another soda.

"Practically everyone is in love with Dean." Castiel let his head fall to the surface of the bar and groaned. He knew Dean was out of his league and he knew it would take someone like Bela or Lisa to snatch him away and there was nothing he could do.

"Yeah and he's practically in love with you so don't worry like I know you are right now." Jo ruffled his hair then turned to move down the bar. She glimpsed at the door as she did so. "He's here now anyway, let him tell you himself."

Castiel immediately sat up and spun around only to be met by Dean pressing his lips against his. Cas moved his hands to Dean's hips and pulled him in closer. They stayed like this for several seconds with Dean running his hands gently through Cas' hair until a series of wolf-whistles caused them to pull apart. Dean grinned as he looked around at some of the flannel-clad hunters on the other side of the room who were giving them both the thumbs up and laughing. Dean liked them. They were a friendly bunch.

He turned his attention back to Cas. "Sorry I'm late. I would give you my excuse but it's shit."

"Bela's here."

"Who's Bela?"

"Bela Talbot. One of the many dying to have sex with you."

Dean grimaced. "Oh god. Where is she?"

"Bathroom. She's been sat here lecturing me on how you _will be interested _in her."

"Shit. I'm sorry." Keeping his eyes fixed towards the bathroom to make sure Bela hasn't come out, Dean leant down and placed his lips against Cas' neck. "Let's leave before she gets back."

"Done." Cas practically jumped off his stool and grabbed Dean's hand to drag him out.

There were gone by the time Bela arrived back from the bathroom. She turned around as she scanned the room for either Castiel or Dean. Leaning against the bar she turned to the man who was sat a few seats down from Castiel and asked "Where's the guy that was sat here?"

The older man looked up from his drink and stared at the empty barstool. "He left with his boyfriend a few seconds ago."

Bela scoffed. "Boyfriend. Please."

"No. Really. Boyfriend. Him and that Winchester kid. They're in here all the time all they do is make out. I'm all for gay partnership and that Winchester is a good ki-"

"Him and Dean? Oh this is too much." Bela pushed herself off the bar and left with the biggest shit-eating grin plastered across her face.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

"Dean?"

"Hmm?" Dean was stretched out on his front across his bed with his face squished into the pillow. Cas was sat at Dean's desk on the other side of the room as he had insisted he needed to get his homework done before they go to bed.

"Am I a loser?"

Dean shifted so he leaning on his arms and faced Cas. "Well you are doing your homework instead of having sex so…"

"I'm serious."

Dean frowned and sat up straight and stared at Cas. "What's brought this on?"

Castiel shrugged as he played with the hem of his shirt "Just something Bela said."

"Don't listen to her."

"You call me a nerd and a loser all the time!"

"I'm allowed. I have best friend privileges."

Cas stood up and made his way across the room to lay down next to Dean. "Are you ever ashamed to be seen with me?"

"Seriously?" Dean turned over awkwardly and laid himself flat across Castiel. He fidgeted some more so he was lying in between Cas' legs with his head resting against Cas' chest. Castiel couldn't help but chuckle as Dean got comfortable. "You're my best friend. You're up there with Sammy and that's saying something. You're all I need and want and I swear I will never be ashamed to be seen with you. You're the best thing to happen to me and I wont leave you. Ever. And… I, um… Yeah."

Cas looked down his chest at Dean who was running his hands up his shirt. He smiled and sat up on his elbows, disturbing Dean's obviously deep thinking. "Dean, I-"

"So, in conclusion: Bela Talbot and anyone else, other than me of course, who calls you a loser will get punched in the face. By me." Dean sat up and shook his torso as if he as sizing up to someone. Castiel grinned.

"You're just trying to feel manly again after talking about feelings aren't you?"

"Maybe. Now let's go drink beer and listen to Motorhead!" Dean stood up from the bed and flexed his arms in various poses.

Castiel laughed at Dean's attempt at the 'manliest' voice he could fake. "Or you could just fuck me into the mattress."

Dean stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face Castiel, his words heading straight to his groin. "I like your plan _much_ better." In one swift move Dean had Cas pressed against the bed, hovering over him, with their lips pressed firmly together. Castiel's greedy hands already making their way across Dean's body.


	9. Chapter 9

**Time to apologise for taking so long. I haven't given up on this, I promise. I've just been busy and this was a surprisingly tough chapter to write. So if it isn't very good it's because I rushed it and wanted to move things along. I've hardly checked it so there's most likely mistakes and typos. **

**I want to thank you all and tell you how much I love you for reviewing and following this story. You all mean the world to me. **

* * *

"Dean? In here."

Dean turned once he reached the bottom of the stairs and hitched his duffle bag higher onto his shoulder as he followed into the living room where Bobby had called him. "Hurry up though because I have to pick Cas and Gabe up." It was Friday, the day they were all leaving for Lisa's. They were planning to head straight to the cabin after school which meant stashing his bag in the trunk of his car. Hence the massive duffel.

"Sit down, boy. I wanna talk to ya." Bobby wheeled himself opposite one of the sofas where he gestured for Dean to sit.

"Make it quick, old man. I have to leave for school."

"Then I'll get straight to the point. When were you going to tell me about you and Castiel?"

Dean froze a little in his seat then quickly relaxed once he realised that Bobby was bound to guess eventually. He may not be very observant but it wasn't like he and Cas were sly. "Soon?"

"Not soon enough. I don't mind. I like Cas, he's a good kid. Just don't let me find out after hearing you two at it all night." Bobby grimaced.

"Ah. Sorry, Bobby."

"You will be. Anything else you have to tell me? Any other secret boyfriends you've been stashing?"

"No, Bobby." Dean stood up to leave but stopped once he remembered something. "But I do want to talk to you and Sammy about something when I get back after the weekend."

"Alright, kid. Go, you'll be late f'school."

After Dean called out for Sam that they were leaving and they were both in the car, he headed to Cas' to pick him and Gabriel up.

They sat outside the house for a few minutes with Dean continuously honking the car horn.

"Dean, don't do that. Go up and knock on the door."

Dean shifted to turn around to face Sam who was sat in the backseat. "It's fine." Gabriel and Cas leaving their front door and slamming it behind them made Dean look up. "See, here they are."

Both Winchesters watched as both Novaks walked down the driveway to the car, carrying their stuff for the weekend. Dean popped the trunk allowing them to throw their belongings in.

Castiel walked around to the passenger seat and got as far as opening the door before Gabriel shoved him out the way. "I call shotgun!"

"Gabriel!" Cas sighed as he watched his brother practically dive into the seat. He stepped back and opened the back door before slipping in. "Hello, Dean. Sam." Castiel smiled and nodded at Sam as he rubbed his own arm. Gabriel was going to pay for shoving him so hard.

"You excited for your weekend, Castiel?" asked Sam.

Castiel just scoffed.

"It's not going to be that bad." Dean glanced in the rearview mirror as he spoke. Sam had to nudge him to look at the road, not at Cas.

"It's going to go horribly wrong, you do realise that?"

"How can it possibly go wrong?"

"Lisa dislikes me and I'm unsure of who else she's invited but I can guarantee they won't think highly of me either."

"Cassie…" Gabriel shifted in his seat so he could turn around and face his brother. Castiel didn't like the grin Gabe was displaying; he'd learnt a long time ago not to like a grin like that. "She won't give you a hard time. My bag isn't full of clothes, it's full of condoms." Gabriel winked and Castiel raised his eyebrows.

"What? You think you're going to do the dirty with Lisa?" Dean laughed as he spoke.

"You're not going to. And if she wants to be satisfied, I'm the next best thing."

"I think you're thinking far too highly of yourself, Gabriel" said Castiel.

"Anyway, Cas. The important thing is it'll be fun. I'll make sure of it." Dean took one hand off the steering wheel and reached behind him so he could place it on Castiel's knee to give him a reassuring squeeze.

"Dean. That's my knee, not Castiel's" Sam declared.

Needless to say Dean removed his hand and brought it back to the wheel.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\

For Dean, the day dragged by painfully slowly. He was getting more and more excited about the weekend as time passed and he couldn't wait.

For Castiel, however, he kept bringing his eyes to the clock and willed for time to slow down. He knew he should trust Dean when he said they'd have fun but he couldn't help but dread the weekend and the company he'd spend it with. It wasn't Jo and Andy and Ash and Pam and Gabriel he was worried about, not only did they know about his and Dean's relationship but he found their company enjoyable. It was everyone else's he was dreading.

They'd found out earlier in the day that the other people Lisa had invited was Bela Talbot, Meg Masters, Crowley and Naomi. All of which he either didn't know or despised. As long as he could stay with Dean the entire weekend, it might be bearable.

Castiel groaned as the clock finally read 3 o'clock and class ended. Dean wasn't in his physics class so he was to meet him in the parking lot by the Impala but as he made his way through the maze of corridors, Crowley came to walk beside him.

"Hello, Novak."

Castiel glanced at him and frowned. Crowley had an air of creepiness about him 24/7. His short black hair was receding prematurely and his outfit was made up mostly of the colour black with the odd splash of red. "What do you want?" Cas made sure to spit his words in order to make clear his distaste for Crowley.

"I came to call a truce. I don't like you. You don't like me. And for good reason! However I'd like to point out that it's my friends, Alistair and Gordon, who repeatedly beat the shit out of you. Not me."

"You want to make a truce?" Castiel scoffed.

"Yes." They continued walking and found themselves outside the main building, facing the parking lot. Cas could see Dean across from them slapping Ash away from sitting on the hood of the Impala. "I just want to… be civilised."

As they walked closer Dean saw him walking alone with Crowley. Cas had to wave him off to let him know it was alright. "Why?" Castiel stopped short several meters where Dean was standing.

"I'm not the bad guy. It's just the crowd I hang with. Listen, I want to enjoy this weekend as I'm sure you do too and the best way to do that is for me to lay my cards down and for your bodyguard to quit looking at me like he's about to gut me." Crowley looked over his shoulder to where Dean was resting against the trunk of the Impala with his arms crossed, glaring at Crowley with hateful intent.

"You're doing this because you're scared of Dean?" Castiel smirked.

"The guy's scary."

Cas shook his head before moving past Crowley and towards Dean, slapping him on the shoulder as he walked.

Dean hardly registered Cas had sat next to him due to the fact he was continuing to stare down Crowley.

"You'll hurt yourself if you stare any harder."

"What did he want?"

"Nothing much. He was attempting to offer an olive branch."

"What?"

"A peace offering, Dean. I think he's trying to be nice to avoid you."

"I am pretty scary."

Castiel smirked and glanced at Dean next to him. "Yes. You're terrifying."

Dean shoved him off the car resulting in a grin and chuckle from Cas.

They hung around for a few more minutes to wait for everyone else to join them so they could sort out who would be traveling with who. Dean and Cas were joined by Gabriel and Ash whereas Jo, Pam, Andy and Meg poured into Crowley's van leaving Lisa, Bela and Naomi in Lisa's hatchback.

Dean was glad to have his car full of people who knew about his and Cas' relationship. It meant he was able to place a hand on Castiel's thigh as he drove and sneak a kiss on the shoulder when they stopped at traffic lights. They were heading for a weekend of having to hide in front of those who didn't know and every time Dean thought about it it caused his chest to tighten.

In all honesty, Dean wished he didn't have to hide his relationship with Cas. After all, everyone he cared about knowing knew, all that was left was the judgmental douchebags who'd make his and Cas' life hell so with everything weighed up, he thought it be best if no one else knew. It was an unsaid mutual agreement between the two of them but Dean knew fully that it was he who was leading the idea. Cas had nothing to lose if everyone found out. He was already ridiculed for his sexuality and while it was cruel, he was used to the homophobic bashing and out of all of it he'd gained friends which he hadn't before. It was Dean who had everything to lose. His reputation in the school was one of a ladies-man. He was ashamed to say there was only a handful of girls in his year who he hadn't had his way with and he could only imagine what people would do or say if they found out he was gay. Not only gay but dating the most unpopular guy in school.

It wasn't that Dean was ashamed of Cas. Because he wasn't and he had told Cas that and he meant it. Dean knew that to get through high school, you had to make life easy for yourself and that wouldn't happen if the school found out and he only had a handful of months left. He and Cas just had to wait for a little longer before they're able to move states and make new names for themselves.

It took an hour to reach the cabin. Dean's car was the last to arrive. Everyone was already unloading from their trunks and taking things inside. As he pulled up in front of the house Castiel was fidgeting beside him, trying to see past him through the drivers side window where he could see the lake through some trees.

"Can we take a walk to the lake later, Dean?"

Dean smiled softly. "Sure. Now get out, Gabriel and Ash already have the trunk open."

Castiel nodded and stepped out the car.

"Impressive place, Lisa!" Jo was leaning up against Crowley's van admiring the cabin which was more like a large house.

It was a two-story structure made completely of dark, worn, wood. A large porch stretched along the front and curved round to the side and housed a swing-seat a few meters from the front door. The outside was well kept with hanging baskets full of green plants growing up the chains and thick trees surrounded it which thinned out nearer the lake. It could probably be seen clearly from one of the upstairs windows.

"Wait 'till you see inside." Lisa skipped up the steps to the front door which she nimbly unlocked and threw open allowing her guests to enter.

Gabriel was the first one in screaming "This is too cool!"

Dean had to place a hand on Castiel's back and nudge him away from the safety of the Impala and to the direction of the house. Cas silently obliged.

The inside was, as it was possible to guess, much more impressive than the exterior. There was a modest open plan kitchen/living room with far too many sofas pointed towards a far too large flatscreen tv. Like the outside, the walls were dark wood, as was the floor and Dean liked it. It smelt of a classic wood cabin, albeit a fairly luxurious one. A thin staircase lead up to an open hallway which Dean could see lead to at least three other rooms.

"There are three double bedrooms upstairs and one single bedroom down here. One of the doubles upstairs is mine, the rest is up for grabs. The sofa's are comfy enough for those who didn't try hard enough to get a bed and if you didn't manage to claim a sofa - the floor is pretty shitty." Lisa set her bag at the bottom of the staircase before turning to the rest of the group. "No smoking inside and if you break it, you pay for it."

"Damn, how'd you afford this?" Pam was wondering around the living room, her hand running across the wooden walls.

"My parents are rich. What else?" remarked Lisa.

"Well congratulations to them. I'm starving" shouted Meg who was peering into the very empty fridge.

Bela jumped up onto the island counter in the center of the kitchen and peered over at Dean. "I vote Dean the man of the group which automatically puts him on barbecue duty!"

"How is he the man!? I'm manly as hell!" Gabriel looked over his shoulder as he was stocking the fridge with far too much beer and glared at Dean.

"Sorry, Gabe. The group has spoken and I am the appointed man." Dean turned to Naomi with his hand stretched out. "Give me the meat, woman!"

Naomi rolled her eyes and passed Dean the cooler containing the burgers while Bela scoffed from her perch on the counter. "Don't you already get enough meat, Dean?"

Dean stared at her quizzically. "If that was meant to be some shitty innuendo, I don't understand it. C'mon, Cas lets go find the barbecue." And with that, Dean left to go outside with Cas hot on his heels.

Cas was glad Dean was so conscious about including him. While he did consider Jo, Ash, Pam and Andy his friends and he was comfortable enough to hang out with them without Dean, when he was in a larger group containing people who don't really like him, Cas was uneasy. He felt self-conscious about every move he made and rarely spoke unless spoken to first and even then his speech was minimal.

He'd spent twenty minutes watching Dean demonstrate his grilling skills while occasionally stealing touches when he was sure no one inside was looking out the window towards them and after everybody had eaten and complemented Dean on his cooking they all squeezed onto the sofas in the living room allowing Cas to take full advantage of sitting as close to Dean as possible.

"We would be really shitty teenagers if we don't get ridiculously drunk right now!" stated Gabriel who was sat on the floor in between Pam's legs.

"Me and Gabriel have been working on some _killer_ drinking games all week, right Gabe?"

"Yes, Andy, my friend, that is correct!" he stood up and jogged over to the fridge, scooping as many six-packs into his arms as possible and managing to grasp a bottle of Jack from one of the counters before heading back to the group.

"I think we should start with a few… tame games before we indulge in the joys you've thought up for us" said Lisa.

"And what do you think is 'tame'?"

"Well something that wont get us paralytic after the first round."

"What about 'Spin the Bottle'?" Bela narrowed her eyes at Dean as she spoke causing Dean to frown and shift uneasily in his chair.

"And how the hell is that meant to get us drunk?" demanded Andy.

"Simple. There are a few people here who you'd rather take a shot than make out with."

"True. I'd rather take a double of Jack than kiss my brother" nodded Gabriel.

"Then shall we start?"

Meg twisted the cap of a bottle of Bud and pressed it to her lips. "This game if for twelve year olds."

"Then don't play. Who's first?"

"Me!" Lisa stood up and placed an empty bottle on the coffee table. She looked up through her eyelashes and smirked at Dean before twisting her wrist and allowing the bottle to spin. She knelt down to watch it stop and point as far away from Dean as possible and directly at Bela.

"Now this is a party!" shouted Ash.

Lisa rolled her eyes and knelt up to face Bela. Both girls leant in and met each other with a chaste kiss for a good few seconds before pulling away, being greeted with a round of 'woops' coming from Ash, Andy and Gabriel's direction.

"My turn then?" Bela stood and leant over to the table, spinning the bottle firmly and watching it land firmly pointed towards Dean.

"You've got the be kidding me!" Dean moaned and slouched back into the sofa.

"Don't be a baby, Dean, it's just one kiss. Unless there's a secret reason you wouldn't want to kiss me?"

"It's no secret that you're a bitch, Bela."

"You've certainly changed your tune since last year you'd jump at the change to get your hands on anything that had breasts."

"Yeah. Well."

"Are we in the wrong company for it?" Bela's eyes darted to Castiel who, like everyone, was staring at Dean.

"For fuck's sake!" Dean stood up and grabbed Bela by the back of the head. He pressed his lips against hers without movement or a hint of enjoyment for a mere two seconds. He pulled away and collapsed back into his seat.

"Wow, Dean. You really know how to sweep a girl off her feet. Or are girls not really your forte?" Bela sat back and played with a strand of her hair while lifting an eyebrow at Dean.

"Bela? Are we talking about the same Dean? Of course girls are his forte." Lisa winked and bit down on her bottom lip as if attempting to pass off being sexy.

Dean cringed before reaching out and spinning the bottle. Of course it landed on Cas. And of course Bela was grinning beneath her hand.

Half of the group leant forward with interest to see what Dean would chose, Cas or the liquor. The other half didn't bother, knowing full well he'd choose Cas.

Castiel raised his eyebrows and looked directly at Dean. He expected him to make a fuss about kissing his best friend for show but instead Dean placed his hands either side of his face and pulled him closer. Cas' hands instinctively reached out and tangled themselves in Dean's shirt and he smiled when Dean nipped gently on his bottom lip before pulling away. The kiss only lasted a few seconds seeing as they wouldn't be able to get away with a full make out session but it was enough time for all the blood in Dean's body to flow directly to his groin.

"That was pathetic."

Dean stiffened and turned to Bela. "Excuse me?"

"That. Was. Pathetic. This is Spin the Bottle, there's meant to be at least a little bit of tongue."

"I don't recall you and Lisa using tongue. Or me and you."

"Yeah well we're doing it properly from now on. Do it again and this time make it impressive."

"Bela, I'm not-"

Dean's speech was cut off by Cas grabbing him by the shirt and roughly giving him an open mouth kiss. Dean immediately melted into it and tangled his tongue with Cas'. A moan only audible to Dean escaped past Castiel's lips and Dean smiled. His hands knotted themselves into Cas' crop of messy hair and he tugged ever so softly. They both became all too aware that they were full-on making out in front of their friends when Gabriel cleared his throat.

They pulled away feeling flushed and a little embarrassed.

"Now _that_ is what I was talking about. That almost looked like there was practice involved" scoffed Bela. She shrugged when Dean stared daggers at her. "Spin the bottle then, Castle."

"It's Castiel."

"Whatever."

Cas spun reluctantly. It landed on Gabriel.

"No!"

"No!"

They both fought for the bottle of Jack.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

"Okay! T-the game is… you pick a card. And you 'ave to do something depending on what the card is!" Andy was leant on the table staring intently at the group. Everyone was staring back. It was well into the night and everyone had already had far too much to drink.

"How do we know what the thing is?"

"I have the list of rules on… on m'phone!"

"Who's first!" Gabriel collapsed behind Andy on the floor and squeezed his shoulders with excitement.

"We'll start with… Josephine! And then go in a circle!"

Jo leant forwards and rested her elbows on her knees. "Am I meant to be Josephine?"

"Pick a card Harvelle!"

Jo threw her hands in the air and chose a card from the messy pile on the table. "It's a nine. What's that?"

Andy furrowed his eyebrows as he scrolled through his phone to find the appropriate card rule. After a few seconds he shouted "Nine is crime! Admit to something truly embarrassin' or admit to some horrible crime you've committed and if we don't think it's good enough you have to take a drink!"

Crowley laughed from his corner of the living room. "I like this game."

Jo chewed on her bottom lip as she thought of something worthy enough of Andy's rule. "Alright! I've got a good one!" She shifted to the edge of the sofa so she could see everyone crowded around the small coffee table. "I… used to have a _massive_ crush on mister Winchester over here."

"That's rubbish! That's hardly some revelation! I always knew." Dean grinned over at Jo who looked at him with an open mouth.

"You never!"

"Drink!"

Jo sat back in a grump as she threw back a shot of whiskey.

"Novak, the younger! It is your go, my friend." Andy pointed at Cas.

Castiel sighed and crawled a few paces to the coffee table. He'd never drunk so much in his life but he seemed much more collected than his peers. Dean was impressed with how well he could take his liquor.

"It's a 6."

"That is a 'I Have Never' card."

"And what is that?"

"You say something and if people in this room have done it, they drink. If they haven't, they don't. It's a fun way to know people's deepest, darkest secrets but everyone always starts off with the conventional ones. We'll get to the dirty ones the drunker people get."

Castiel sat back against Dean's legs since Jo had shifted and pushed him off the sofa long a go. "Alright. I have never… had sex."

"Oh please, you're so boring" said Lisa before she and everyone in the room took a swig of whatever drink they possessed. Her eyes fixed on Castiel after he took his glass away from his lips. "And you don't get respect points for lying."

Cas tilted his head slightly in question. "I'm not lying."

"Sure. Because _you've_ had sex."

"Why is that so hard for you to believe?"

"You have seen him, haven't you, Lisa? The guy's smokin'" Meg was sat in an armchair slightly off from the group, a large glass of whiskey in her hand. She winked at Cas when he turned to look at her puzzled.

"I can assure you he's not _smokin'_', the guys a loser."

"I'm sat right here!"

"Unfortunately, yes you are." Lisa narrowed her eyes at Castiel as if to look at him disgusted. "The only reason you're here is because of Dean."

"Lisa, leave him alone." Dean wanted nothing more than to place his hand on Cas' back to reassure him but thought it best not.

"I'm only telling the truth! You just adopted him and now we have to put up with him! I'm sorry but he's a lying, virgin loser."

Cas sighed. It wasn't the worse thing someone had said to him. In fact it was a fairly tame insult. Maybe it was the fact he was a little tipsy but he had to stop himself from making a remark to Lisa about how he's dating the hottest guy in school. He glanced over his shoulder to see Dean just about ready to pounce on Lisa and hit her for her words.

"Cas, don't listen to her! She's just upset because you're stupidly hot and she can't get her claws into you because you're gay!"

"Pam, you're drunk."

"That may very well be!" Pam swayed towards the coffee table separating Cas and Lisa and started making two lines of shot glasses in front of them both. "But I know that there is only one way to get you both to shut up and to prove that Cas is superior in every way!"

"Is that what they were arguing about? Castiel's superiority?"

"I stopped listening. I just assumed Lisa was being a bitch. Anyway! Five shot glasses each! First one to give up or pass out loses and we will all laugh!"

"Oh please, that faggot can't handle his liquor!" Lisa earned a shout from the majority of the group. She shrugged and leant forward, taking a glass and swallowing the contents in one go then turning the empty glass upside down on the table.

Cas followed her lead and the two continued to take it in turns, Pam turning over and filling the empty glasses. When it came to the seventh shot, Lisa was starting to grimace whereas Castiel was eyeing her up, drinking his shots with ease. "I think I'm just starting to feel something" he said with a smile. Lisa managed the eighth before slapping her hand over her mouth and waving the other in defeat.

"Well now that Lisa's about to vomit and Cas is triumphant, can we please continue with my really good game?" Andy started flapping his hands impatiently.

"Sorry, Andy. Yes we can. Cas, you're pretty kickass. And you're one sexy-ass motherfucker. I'm just throwing that in for good measure." Meg stood up and walked over to where Lisa was previously sitting. She had left to use the bathroom and Meg wasn't going to let her spot on the sofa get cold. "Deano, it's your turn to pick a card!"

Dean held a card between his fingers and read "It's a two."

"Dare!"

"Alright. Someone dare me."

The group went quiet for a minute as everyone started thinking. A consecutive 'Umm" could be heard before Jo shouted "I have one!"

She shifted on the sofa as if to ready everyone. "It has to be done, right? Dean, you gotta jump in the lake naked!"

"Are you fucking mad? It's freezing!"

A mess of shouts and demands echoed the room as everyone stood up to hoist Dean of the sofa and to the direction of the door. Cas helped. Eventually Dean complied laughing and jogged down to the lake in the dark, removing his clothing as he went.

Everyone stayed near the tree line to watch from afar except Gabriel who was preoccupied with collecting Dean's clothes and taking them back to the house, most likely to hide them.

Dean was stood on the edge of the pontoon in the lake with his hands cupping himself as he stared into the water. "I'm going to fucking die!" he shouted back to everyone.

"Don't make me push you, Winchester!"

"I'd like to see you fucking try, Harvelle!" Dean shouted a reply before closing his eyes and running off the pontoon.

"He wasn't drunk enough to drown was he?" asked Ash.

"Probably."

"'Kay. Just checking."

They couldn't see through the darkness well enough to see Dean splashing but they could hear a string of inventive cuss words coming from the water.

"He didn't drown."

"Good t'know." Bela brought her hands up to her mouth to shout through them to Dean. "How's the water?"

"Where the fucking fuck are my fucking clothes!?"

Castiel joined everyone in hysterical laughter as he removed his tan trench coat which he had donned before coming outside. Due to the obscene amount he'd been drinking, removing it became a challenge. He stumbled down towards the lake as he flapped his hands out of the sleeves and stopped in front of a naked, shivering Dean.

"Dean… m'trying to give you my coat but it… it wont let me go!"

"Fucking hurry up, Cas! I'm fucking dying here!" Dean hopped on the spot in an attempt to get warm while covering himself up with his hands.

"Here!" Cas held the coat out and Dean immediately threaded him arms through it, wrapping it around his body and sighing.

"Is everyone still up by the trees?"

"N-… no. They got bored."

"What bastards. How are you feeling, Cas?"

Castiel stood straight and thought about it before losing his balance and stumbling. He managed to catch himself and stand again as if he never fell. "To be honest with you, Dean. M'not feeling good. Not good 't'all."

"Okay well I'm fucking freezing let's get the fuck inside."

"Wait!" Cas reached out and clutched the lapels on his coat to pull Dean into his body. He placed a messy kiss on Dean's lips and hummed happily as he did so. With their lips still pressed together, Cas sighed "Mm, Dean I'mm not phreeling good."

Dean pulled away and laughed. "C'mon, Cas. Let's call shotgun on a bedroom and get you into bed."

It took Dean thirteen minutes to get Castiel back in the cabin. Every tree they passed, Cas wrapped his arms around it complaining that he'd 'forgotten how to walk'. When Dean managed to pry him from it he'd have to remind him how to put on foot in front of the other. It took another twenty-six minutes to get Cas up the stairs and into the smaller bedroom because he felt the need to check four times that the fridge was working and after Dean assured him that it was working fine Cas wanted a second opinion which an incredibly drunk Andy was happy to give. After Dean dragged him from the kitchen Cas wanted nothing more in his drunk state than to organize the large dvd collection by leading actor.

Eventually Gabriel was called in to help carry Cas upstairs. "He's such an annoying drunk!"

"He's very handsy too. Do you know how many times I had to stop him running his hand up my coat!"

"Too much information, Dean!"

Once they reached the top of the stairs Cas decided he was fine to walk on his own but both Dean and Gabriel kept their hands reached out ready to catch him when he inevitably fell.

"Dean?"

Dean turned around to see Lisa stood in the hallway, one hand steadying herself against the wall. She had changed into what he assumed were her pajamas although they were more like lingerie.

"What? I'm busy."

"Can I have a word? I just want to apologise."

Dean looked to Gabriel who nodded that he'd manage Cas fine before turning down the hall to where Lisa stood. "Make it quick."

"Dean…" Lisa allowed herself to lean completely against the wall as she reached out and ran a hand down Dean's chest. "We haven't spent… time… together in so long. My bedroom is just here-"

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"I said no, Lis. Get a glass of water and go to bed."

"Will you be joining me?" Lisa's eyes became very wide as she realised Dean was wearing nothing but Castiel's trench coat, his clothes hidden somewhere in the cabin by Gabe.

"No I really wont." Dean turned to leave and go back to Castiel when Lisa stomped her feet behind him.

"I can't believe you, Winchester! Last year you were begging to get with me and now you couldn't care less!"

"You're drunk, Lisa. Get some sleep."

"Are you fucking gay or something! This is ridiculous!"

Dean waved her off as he walked down the other end of the hall. He walked into the bedroom Cas was in just as Gabriel was leaving it. "Did I just hear Lisa have a hissy fit because you wont sleep with her?"

Dean sighed. "Yeah you did."

"Okay… can I try?" Gabriel grinned widely and winked.

"With me or Lisa because I'll tell you now, you're not getting your hands on me, Novak."

"Nah, my brother's got his claim on you, I want to give Lisa a try."

"Be my guest. Good luck."

Dean stepped aside to let Gabriel out who skipped down the hall and towards Lisa's room as he closed the door behind him and faced Cas. Castiel was lying on the bed with the covers kicked off and his limbs strewn across the mattress.

"For fuck sake, Cas. You're like an octopus." Dean laughed then sat on the edge of the bed to inspect his sleeping boyfriend. "I don't suppose you're going to let me in too, are you?"

He didn't get a response.

"Of course." Standing up, Dean removed Castiel's shoes and socks quickly followed by his jeans before picking the duvet up from the floor and gently laying it across his body. He leant in and placed a kiss on his forehead. "I'm taking your jeans, by the way. Someone's taken mine and I'm not wondering around in nothing but your coat." Dean laughed as he put them on. "Fuck me, you're skinny."

He headed for the door and looked over his shoulder once more to smile at Cas who was out like a light.

Taking the stairs two at a time, Dean bumped (quite literally) into Bela.

"Watch where you're going, Dean."

"Sorry, my bad."

"So,how's the boyfriend doing?"

Dean raised an eyebrow at her as he continued his descent downstairs. "Fine…"

"Good. He looked pretty wasted, make sure he doesn't choke on his vomit in his sleep." Bela winked before she ran up to head into Lisa's room, leaving Dean behind her.

When she came to the door, Bela knocked once and laughed when she could hear Lisa shouting at Gabriel for him to leave. She entered then smirked at the older Novak with her arms crossed. "Gabriel. I think Lisa wants you to leave."

Gabriel threw his arms up in defeat and left. "She can't resist me much longer! You'll see! You'll all see!" he shouted a little too loudly.

Lisa stood in the middle of the room and screamed in frustration. "I hate him! I fucking hate him!"

"Gabriel's a dick but he's not that bad." Bela closed the door behind her as she entered.

"Not him! Dean!"

"What did he do?"

"What kind of guy turns me down!? Me!?" she screamed again as she collapsed onto the bed. She was still very drunk despite her talent at masking it.

"What about Castiel?"

"What about him?"

"Do you hate him too?"

"Ugh! That little faggot! I fucking hate him!"

Bela grinned as she knelt down beside the bed. "What if I told you I know a secret which could allow you to destroy them both?"

Lisa turned her head and stared at Bela for a few seconds, her dark hair tangled in her eyelashes. "What kind of secret?"


End file.
